Darkness Before Dawn: World Tour
by SoloWing
Summary: Maylu fully intended to leave Netbattling competition behind... until Famous shows up and asks her to join the new World Tour. But is there more to this tournament than meets the eye? Most likely. (Axess spoilers) Complete. Series finale!
1. Retirement's End

_Author's Notes: I don't own, you don't sue._

_I'm posting this as I write it, so I don't know when the next update will be._

**Monday 4:30, PM: Sakurai House. (Maylu's POV)**

"I'm back, Roll." I announced as I turned the knob and entered my room. Since I had the layout of this house memorized, I didn't have to worry about bumping into things...

I wasn't all that concerned when Roll didn't answer, the P.E.T. had been low on energy, and so I had had to leave it behind to recharge while I went to my weekly piano lessons.

As I maneuvered around the room, towards my desk, I tried to remember what it had been like to be able to see. Ever since that incident between Roy and Lan, I'd been blind, and as much as I didn't want them to, the memories of my sight-filled life kept slipping away from me.

When my cane hit the desk, I stretched out and felt along the smooth surface of the table, and finally made contact with the P.E.T. charger. Once I had a hand on that, it was easy to feel out the button that would bring my friend back online.

"Roll?"

But instead of her Navi's comforting voice, the familiar deep voice of a man came blaring through the speakers.

"Please forgive the intrusion, Ms. Sakurai." 

"Famous!" I took a hesitant step backwards as that voice hit my ears. Now what did he want? "Don't you ever knock?"

"Pardon me, I'll ring the doorbell next time."

I sighed slightly, it wasn't Mr. Famous himself that annoyed me; it was the fact that he could hack into my P.E.T. at any given time. Something I found very unnerving.

"So what do you want this time? I've retired from the Netbattling circuit." After every tournament we had entered, Roll and I had retired from competition, because we had done what we had set out to do. But then, there was always something surfacing that drawn them back into competition.

"I realize that, but we need your help again."

"Why me?" I couldn't make sense of that statement. "Why not Lan? Or Chaud?" 

"Because they are already involved," Famous' voice continued to float through the air. "Yet we need someone else. And since you have proven your worth, and no one would ever suspect you of working with us, we'd like to have your cooperation."

I wasn't so sure what to make of the phrase: "no one would ever suspect you of working with us".

"So what is it that you need me to do?" I decided that it couldn't hurt to find out more. 

"Blaze Quest is sponsoring a new international tournament." The scientist continued to explain the situation to me. "And I need you to enter it, once inside, just keep your eyes open, uh, excuse me."

"No offense taken, did you say: 'International'?" I tried to slow him down to explain the situation, "As in, around the world? Or as in, all participants come to one place and battle?" 

"The tournament takes place around the world, each round of matches taking place in a different country of the world."

"Then I don't think I can help you." I shook my head for his benefit. "This isn't a run across town to Cross-Fuse with Roll and save a hospital. This is something that I'll have to check with my parents about, and I can tell you now that they won't agree to it."

"I believe differently."

"You've already spoken to them?" I took a shot in the dark.

"Not directly, but they are aware of certain... circumstances surrounding the tournament, and understand the gravity of the situation."

"How so?" I wanted to know just what had been said or implied.

"Early this morning, a low level Official visited your parents, and explained that we would need your help in the Tournament. They have agreed to let you participate."

"What role is Lan playing in this?" If it was this important for Famous to go through all of this trouble, then maybe I should join the tournament. "Because I don't want to have to fight him again." 

"We don't expect you to." Famous replied, "Although he is competing, I can assure you that you two will never meet in the ring."

"How can you do that?"

"You can do a lot when-" 

"You're Famous."

"Exactly, so do I have your cooperation?"

"I..." I wasn't so sure about this, and I didn't know how Roll would react to another round of competition, but it was starting to sound important that we play ball. "I guess so."

"Very well, your registration papers and plane ticket will arrive in the mail tomorrow." Famous wrapped up his proposal. "Famous out."

"Did you hear all of that?" I asked, hoping that Roll would finally be back online. 

"I think so." Her welcome voice came to me. "Did you really agree to that?"

"I think I did." I sighed slightly, "I just hope that I didn't do anything too rash." 

**Monday 3:50 PM: Hikari House (Third Person POV)**

"Alright!" Lan grinned triumphantly, "Now this is the kind of assignment I like. We get to enter the World Tour, and battle against the best!"

"Calm down, Lan." MegaMan grinned slightly, "There's bound to be more to it than that. All we know is that we're supposed to enter the contest and keep our eyes open."

"Too bad Chaud can't compete." The brunette began dashing around the room throwing together the things he would take with him. "But then, since IPC's sponsoring the competition that wouldn't be legal." 

"Don't you find that odd?"

"What?"

"Oh, never mind." It took MegaMan everything that he had to keep from rolling his eyes at his clueless Op. If he and Lan were supposed to enter and they were Net Agents, and Chaud was a Net Agent and he was sponsoring this event. Why didn't any red flags go up in Lan's mind?

"Whatever." The Op finished throwing the last of his ensemble into his suitcase.

"Hey, E-mail from Maylu." The Navi announced, "She and Roll are supposed to enter the tournament as well."

"Great, now we'll all be in this together." Lan flashed another one of his cocky trademark grins. "I can't wait." 

"If you say so." MegaMan wasn't sure, but he had a strange feeling about this. There had to be more to it than met the eye...

"So what's the first stop in our tour?" Lan inquired as he picked up his P.E.T.

"Just a second." MegaMan examined the schedule. "O.K., first, we all fly to Sharro for opening ceremonies and the first round of competition."

"Great, maybe we'll run into Laika again."

"It wouldn't surprise me." The Bomber thought about his beloved Search Unison. That had to be the most useful one ever.

"Well, no matter what happens, action is coming our way!" Lan snatched up his suitcase and headed for the door. 

"Hey, Lan?"

"What?"

"I know I'm always pushing you to be on time, but you're leaving way too early."

"I am?"

"Yeah," The Bomber grinned, "Our flight doesn't leave until tomorrow." 

End Chapter.


	2. I'm not color blind

_Author's Notes._

_Maritta, Laika? Maybe, maybe not. Chaud? Of course, how could I forget about my favorite MMBN Character?_

_M. n. Tenshi, Chaud evil? Nope, I've just got other uses for him..._

Begin Chapter.

**Tuesday, 9:00 AM: ACDC International Airport (Third Person POV)**

"And we're on our way." Lan grinned as the aircraft lifted off of the runway and took to the sky.

"It was pretty nice of Chaud to furnish this plane for your use during the tournament." MegaMan commented as he adjusted his P.E.T.'s signal reception to the higher altitudes. "At least this time we don't have to fly commercial, that got expensive." 

"Tell me about it." The Op replied. "I spent that entire summer just working off the bills I'd run up, even though they were supposed to reimburse me for it."

"Well, that hot dog craze you had didn't help." 

"Why don't you come out here and see how long you last without eating?" Lan snapped back.

"I bet I could go for more than seven point two minutes." The Bomber replied with a grin in his voice, "Hey, Lan, you wanted me to remind you to go check on Maylu when we got airborne." 

"Right, I want to make sure that she learns the layout of the plane without any trouble."

"Who's 'she'?"

"Whoa!" Lan's eyes went wide as he spun around to see Maylu sitting in the seat behind him, and she was grinning smugly. As he desperately willed his heartbeat to slow down, he tried to figure out just how she had sneaked up behind him without his hearing her, the last he'd seen of her, she was still sitting back there near the door. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Lan, I appreciate your concern, but it's like I've been telling you." The redhead settled herself back in her seat; "I'm not helpless. You've stopped treating me like a baby, but every once in a while you just... forget."

"I know, I just can't help but worry about you." The brunette replied as he avoided looking into her blank eyes. "Sorry." 

"You're forgiven."

"How'd you get up here anyway?"

"Well." Maylu held up her Personal Terminal to illustrate her point. "While you were checking out the snack bar, Roll and I were going over the plane, she filled me in on where everything was, and we've gotten a pretty good grasp on the layout."

"Oh."

"You never cease to amaze me." Chaud's voice drifted through the plane as he strode into the cabin. "Chaud?" Maylu turned in the direction of his voice.

"Who else would it be?" Lan commented.

The Official ignored the remark as he stepped forward and seated himself in a seat across from the other two Netbattlers. He'd grown accustomed to Lan's cocky remarks; they were his way of letting off steam, much like his own habit of making subtle insults.

"It must be hard on you." The redhead continued to face Chaud's previous position, since the Official hadn't said anything, she didn't know that he had moved, "not being able to compete in the tournament."

"I've done worse." The head of IPC shrugged, his voice causing Maylu to readjust her position.

"Famous asked you to sponsor this didn't he?"

"Slow down here a second." Lan broke into the conversation; "Chaud's doing this because they want him to?"

"You know, Lan, you might want to take some lessons from Maylu on seeing things," The Official couldn't resist the insult, "Yes, they did ask me to do this."

"Why?" Now Lan was getting into the conversation, evidently he didn't want to be left in the dark.

"I don't know myself." The Op replied, "All I know is that they tell me where the next stop is and that's where we have the next round of competition."

"So they're setting the schedule?" Maylu spoke up.

"No, they aren't pairing the matches," The bicolor-haired boy shook his head, "the only thing they control is where we go next. That's the only stipulation that they had."

"Odd." The redhead commented.

"I know." Chaud agreed, "I know that you've already given this place a brief once over, Maylu, but I want to give you and Lan a quick tour, that way you'll know where everything is." 

"If you say so." The two battlers stood up.

"Then follow me."

"One quick question." Maylu followed the sound of Chaud's voice, prodding the area around her with her cane to feel out any obstacles. "Where are all of the other Netbattlers? If they're here then they must be awfully quiet, because I haven't heard a word out of anyone but you and Lan."

"They're flying commercial." The administrator replied as he shoved a nearby door open, "I'd rather the three of us stay together since we're all here at Famous' request."

"Makes sense."

"Now around here you've got the kitchen..." Chaud proceeded to explain where everything was in the aircraft.

* * *

A few hours later they touched down in Sharro, one of the colder areas of the world and home to Laika and SearchMan.

"ProtoMan, is there any last minute instructions from Famous?" Chaud exited his cabin, Personal Terminal in hand and winter coat at the ready.

"Nothing, I haven't received a word from them since the briefing."

"I wish I knew what we were getting ourselves into." The Op slid his coat on and headed down the hallway, first he had to get Lan and Maylu, and then they had to get down to the arena for the opening ceremony and an exhibition battle. The thought caused Chaud to grin slightly, he may not be allowed to compete, but that didn't mean he couldn't participate.

A short walk later, the administrator stopped and banged on a doorway.

"Hey, Lan! Get a move on!" Chaud shouted into the closed door.

"I'm ready." The door burst open, just barely missing Chaud's face, revealing Lan decked out in his usual attire... the only difference being the long coat thrown over his shoulders. "Bring it on!"

"Now I know you're crazy." The Official shook his head as he turned and continued down the hallway.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Lan, only you would go out into the freezing Sharro climate in a pair of biking shorts." Chaud hurled that last point over his shoulder as he turned a corner. Which conveniently cut off his ally's reply.

A few seconds later, he stopped in front of another door, this one going into Maylu's cabin. Considering the circumstances, Chaud decided against just banging on the door and instead elected to do something extreme.

He knocked politely.

"Yes?" The door slid open. 

"I just wanted to let you know that we're here."

"O.K., give me just a moment..." The redhead turned and began to shuffle towards the closet set in the far wall.

"Uh," Chaud's manners kicked into gear. "Do you need any help?" 

"Not you too." Maylu's called back to her friend as she felt her stick make contact with the wall, a split second later she had felt out the handle and pulled the closet door open, "Chaud, I'm not helpless. I can do just about anything you can, I just do it differently."

"Excuse me. I didn't mean it that way." The Official watched as Maylu felt through her wardrobe and finally pulled out a coat, causing him to blink in surprise, for one thing, Maylu had exchanged her skirt for a pair of jeans, and that coat went perfectly with her ensemble. "Did- did you know that-"

"The coat matches my shirt?" The redhead cut him off as she put it on and headed for the doorway. "I did." 

"How?"

"See here?" Maylu raised her left arm so that the sleeve was plainly visible. "Yes," Chaud tried to figure out what she was showing him, it was just a coat sleeve, with a few buttons on the side down near the hem. "But I don't see what's so special about it..." 

"How many buttons are there?" Maylu was clearly enjoying her companion's bewilderment, and didn't show any signs of letting the secret out.

"Three."

"And what shape are they?"

"What's that got to do with it?" Chaud could feel his patience reaching the limit, what was the big deal here anyway? They were just buttons- or were they? "There's just two round ones and a square- that's it... the two round ones and one square one tells you that that coat's blue doesn't it?"

"Yeah." The redhead exited her cabin and took off down the corridor, her cane feeling out the path ahead of her. "I always replace the buttons on new clothes so that I know what they are. For instance: round button, square button, round button tells me that this is blue in color. A square, round, round would be red, and round, round, square would be brown."

"Amazing."

"Just life."  
  
At that precise moment, Lan showed up, apparently taking Chaud's advice as he now wore a pair of longer pants.

"So are we ready to go?" The brunette asked, evidently unaware of the exchange he had missed.

"We are." Chaud watched as one of the few attendants on the plane cranked the door open. "Next stop: the Netbattling arena." 

End Chapter.

Next: Exhibition Battle!


	3. Let the games begin!

Author's Notes.

_I promise you, I am going somewhere with this, it's just shaping up to be a long fic. After this chapter we'll start picking up speed. And since I'm writing this as I go, I'm willing to open this up. If you've got a match you want to see (the Navi doesn't have to have appeared in the Anime, but be warned that I will tend to favor those matches), then drop me review and if I like it, I'll work it in._

Begin Chapter.

Lan led everyone down the stairs towards their seats, right behind him was Maylu, and after her came the infamous Chaud.

"Here we are." The Op stopped short, beside three empty seats; they were about midway up the stands, giving them a perfect view of the arena and scoreboards, another example of Chaud's forethought. 

"Two steps down, and three seats in." Roll hissed, informing her Operator as to where to go.

"Thanks." Maylu whispered as she headed her Navi's advice, a few seconds later she had found her seat, and was waiting on the ceremonies to start.

"So." Lan took his seat next to the redhead as Chaud scurried away to get the ball rolling on the World Tour. "Are you excited about this?"

"I just wish that I knew what I was getting myself into." The redhead replied, "Famous went to a lot of trouble to get us into this tournament, and I'd like to know why."

"We'll find out sooner or later." The brunette replied.

"I have to admit, Lan." MegaMan spoke up from his P.E.T., "I'm agreeing with Maylu on this one, we shouldn't relax until we know just what is going on." 

"Hey!" Roll barked, "Quiet down, they're starting it!"

Chaud walked up to the podium set in the center of the arena, speaking before large masses wasn't new to him, but nevertheless he felt a familiar sense of nervousness as he began speaking. 

"Now I know all of you are here to battle." The administrator began, "And not to listen to me ramble on for hours. So I'll give you the highlights and then we can get down to business. The rules for this tournament are slightly different from those used in past tournaments, and I'll explain about that in just a moment."

As he spoke, the holographic computer flared to life, displaying a standard battling arena. The sole occupant of which was a standard Net Navi. 

"Jack in, ProtoMan, Power Up!"  
  
In response the Raider's frame appeared in the battling arena, and he began dodging the various attacks launched at him by his opponent.  
  
"Now," Chaud resumed his explination, "unlike in other competitions, in the World Tour you are allowed to use Shadow, Stage, and Recovery chips."

The Op paused while the audience 'ooohhheed' at the prospect of using those chips as the standard Navi changed the terrain to a grass stage. 

"The only illegal kind of chips are the Dark Chips. Any use of those chips will result in expulsion from the tournament. But I'm sure that that won't happen. Your battles will be timed as the clock up there on the computer is illustrating."

Everyone became aware of the digital clock set just underneath the battlefield of the holographic computer; it was at ten minutes and rapidly ticking down towards 0.

"You will have a maximum of fifteen minutes to battle." Chaud continued to explain the rules, "At the end of those fifteen minutes, the Navi that has taken the most amount of damage, including that done before a Recovery chip was inserted, will be declared the loser. But of course if the Navi logs out before that time period is up, then it will be disqualified. Should both Navi remain in battle for the full fifteen minutes and do an equal amount of damage, then they will both advance to the next round. You are allowed two separate folders, and may change folders once during battle."

By now everyone was getting interested in ProtoMan's battle, because the clock was at four minutes and neither one had scored a hit yet. 

"If you miss your match then you are eliminated, if you are late for your match then you are eliminated. If you are unsure about the rules, then you are urged to check the Rulebook that each battler will receive shortly."

The clock buzzed as it reached the two-minute mark causing everyone to stir with concern.

"He's playing this up isn't he?" Maylu tried to reason out the events around her as she listened to the sounds of the battle before her. Chaud must have something spectacular in mind to let one of ProtoMan's battles drag out this long, in the past he'd always taken out his opponents within seconds. 

"Looks that way." Lan agreed.

"That being said, let the games begin." The administrator finished, just as the clock hit the thirty second mark and began beeping each second.  
  
"Oh, yes." Chaud inserted two chips into his P.E.T. "Take him down, ProtoMan!"

The Raider's frame dimmed as the Shadow chip took effect, which allowed the blasts from the standard Navi's cannon to pass through him without effect. The next instant he was back in full phase, and swinging his newly gained Hero Sword through space.

_**Net Navi, Logging Out.**_

The Navi vanished, just as the timer hit zero.

"Enjoy." Chaud smirked as he stepped off of the platform and headed back to the wings.

"Wow, talk about upsetting our strategies." Lan sighed in response to Chaud's speech. "He just changed the entire layout the game."

"I guess that was the whole point." Maylu commented as she processed the sounds that she had heard. "Nothing gets boring faster than watching a bunch of old moves that you've seen before. If he's going to market this tournament, then he needs something to keep it fresh."

"So now what?"

"According to your schedules." MegaMan answered Lan's question, "there's a brief one hour break so you can get your rulebooks, and then the first match will be announced. There's not a lot of time left today, so we'll have three matches and then that's it."

"Fine by me." 

101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010

"GGGIIIAAA!"

"Oh, save your strength." One of the SciLab security Navis muttered under his breath as he slipped out of the server, Bass had been feeling extremely cranky today, and he hated it when that happened. 

Bass growled as he strained against the bands of energy binding him to the computer server. After his capture at the hands of that Sakurai girl, the SciLab scientists had refused to delete him; instead they had claimed that he had to be studied. The dark Navi almost grinned at the thought that had to be the human's greatest weakness, their policy of containment rather than destruction.

And if he had anything to say about it, no one would be putting him underneath a microscope.

The renegade Navi strained his eyes as he searched the server looking for a program to fulfil his purpose... any program would do... such as that Mettaur over there.

The Navi's red eyes began to glow slightly; soon he'd be free of these wretched restraints!

Bass watched the Mettaur squirm as his telepathic power took effect, and lifted him up into the air. Although the pathetic program tried to escape, there was nothing it could do. The renegade Navi sped up the process, hurling the program through the air and straight towards himself. 

Or rather, the bonds securing him in place.

The virus slammed against the energy cords, and in the process absorbed the power out of them so that they were much weaker, weak enough for Bass to destroy them.

The unlucky virus slumped to the ground, too weak to move.

With a roar of fury, the cloaked Navi snapped his limbs forward, ripping the restraints to pieces in the process, and freeing him to move about the computer system. Now, all he had to do was find 'Kid Grave', and he'd be at liberty once again.

10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101101010101010101010101010101010101010101

End Chapter.

Next: Round 1!


	4. Hit him hard and fast

Author's Notes.

_Jill, Nope. Because Bass escaped AFTER the Tour was put together._

Begin Chapter.

"So what's the lineup?" Lan turned to Chaud as the Administrator returned to his seat next to the Netbattlers.

"Hold your gigabytes." The teen with bi-color hair leaned back in his chair. "As you'll find out in a moment, the first match is Dave and QuickMan-." 

"Dave? He's competing?" The brunette interrupted, now that was news to him.

"Yes, he's done his time for taking over the dam's computer system and is a free man once again, his opponents will be Dex and GutsMan."

"Are you out of your mind?" Lan gasped at the thought of the slowpoke GutsMan battling against the overcharged QuickMan. "He's gonna get creamed!"

"If I remember correctly," Chaud stared up at the display board as the list of matches began appear on the screen, "I said the same thing about you in the N-1, and look what happened." 

"If you say so." Lan shook his head and then noticed that Maylu hadn't entered the conversation, "Hey, are you O.K.?"

"Huh?" The redhead jumped slightly at the sound of Lan's voice. 

"I asked if you were feeling alright."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Maylu turned to face the sound of his voice. "Just wondering why we're here. So what's the lineup?"

"Well," Lan studied the display board, "Uh, up first there's GutsMan and QuickMan, followed by two guys I've never heard of, PyroMan vs. CopterMan. And then... wow, Tory and IceMan against Chillski and ColdMan!" 

"War of the blizzards." Maylu quipped in reply, something about this entire thing was bugging her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Well, if she waited long enough it would come back to her.

"And it's time for the moment that you've all been waiting for!" Ribbita's voice flooded the arena, causing everyone to wonder just how she had landed yet another Tournament assignment. "Let the games begin! Up first we have the mighty Dex and GutsMan set against the speedy Dave and QuickMan! Our battlers are in position, so let's get this show started!" 

"Right!" The overstuffed Dex jerkily yanked out his P.E.T. and slammed the wire into the gate, "Jack in, GutsMan! Power Up!"

"Are you ready QuickMan?" Dave also pulled out his Personal Terminal.

"I'm ready, this is going to be easy." The red and yellow Navi nodded.

With a blast of light the two Navi entered the arena and prepared to duke it out.

Battle Start!

"First move," Dex jammed a couple of chips into his terminal's gate. "Guts Hammer, Download!"

GutsMan hauled back his hand as it morphed into its huge hammer state, with a loud battle cry of 'Guts!' the Navi slammed it into the ground, which released a powerful earthquake that sped across the arena. 

"You've got to be kidding me." QuickMan took off at full speed and tore his way across the battleground, easily sidestepping his opponent's attack.

"Oh yeah?" The bald kid grinned with anticipation as he readied four chips, "Remote Blasters, Download!"

"You loose!" The ape raised his arms above his head as four robotic blasters appeared in front of him, each one targeting his opponent. "Fire!"

Each cannon discharged its load, sending four powerful beams of energy through the air.

"This is just too easy." The red and yellow Navi announced as he watched the lasers close in on him. At the last possible moment he took a running jump, and sailed over the blasts. As the Remobits fired again he dodged and twisted his way through the obstacle course of plasma energy. And of course escaping without a scratch.

"Why doesn't Dex get it?" Lan spoke to himself; he'd faced QuickMan before and knew the guy's only major weakness... "QuickMan's too fast for those attacks!"

"Now it's my turn." The speedy Navi closed in on GutsMan and sent his arm forward through the air, trying to clip the larger Navi with the dagger-like fins on his glove. "Quick Slash!"

GutsMan didn't stand a chance against the faster Navi's one-two punch maneuver, and was struck repeatedly by the sharp fins before QuickMan actually attacked with his fist and knocked the large ape backwards.

"Don't give up!" Dex shouted to his Navi as he rifled through his folder, what did he have that could help? This folder was the one that he preferred because it contained his entire ensemble of virus and punch attacks... for the moment maybe this would work. "Guts Punch, Battle Chip in, Download!"

"GutsMan win now." The large Navi announced as his right fist grew to a much larger state, now all he had to do was slam it against a certain red, yellow, and very fast Net Navi...

"I've got to say." Dave spoke up for the first time; "You've got a lot of potential Dex, but you also have a long way to go. Quick Boomerang, Download!"

"Uh oh," GutsMan glanced around trying to figure out just where that annoying boomerang would come from. He didn't want to get clipped by it any time soon...

A slight 'hiss' sliced through the air, before the large ape turned around to see one very large yellow boomerang with his name on it. And it was coming in way too fast for his liking.

"JUMP!"

"Whoa!" The apelike Navi threw his oversized frame up as high as he could and just narrowly missed the projectile. Once clear of the blade had dropped back down to the ground and tried to find his opponent, completely forgetting about the Boomerang's special ability: it would keep targeting him until it was destroyed. 

GutsMan 'oomphed' as he got clobbered from behind, subsequently he was thrown to the floor.

The boomerang curved around, getting ready to attack again, but this time GutsMan was ready, and when the boomerang came into range, he slammed his powered up fist against it, and shattered it into deletion.

Dex stared at his P.E.T.'s display in disbelief; he couldn't loose the first round of competition. He just couldn't! But what could he do? QuickMan was way too fast for GutsMan, and a whole lot smarter besides. And these chips were useless in this situation; there wasn't one in this folder that could work...

"Only seven minutes left." The bald kid glanced at the timer, the match was half over with, and if things didn't change soon they'd be dead meat... unless... it was corny move, but one that just might work. "Folder change!" 

Dex discarded his old folder and snatched up his second one, this one contained his... miscellaneous chips, and ones that he didn't use that often, but if this worked it would become his new best friend.

"Area Steal!" The Op slotted the chip into his P.E.T.

"Guts!" GutsMan vanished in a puff of pixels, evading QuickMan and causing the speedy Navi to look around trying to find out where his adversary would appear.

"Stay alert, QuickMan." Dave searched his P.E.T.'s display, trying to locate the apelike Navi.

"Nothing will get by me." The Navi replied.

A split second later, GutsMan reappeared, standing as far away from QuickMan as he could, in a corner of the arena.

"I've got him!" QuickMan spun around and barreled across the arena straight towards his opponent, this guy was toast!

"Hey, Dave, question." Dex announced as he slapped a Grass Stage Chip into his P.E.T., causing all of the tiles in the battle area to grow long blades of foliage. The move aroused everyone's curiosity because GutsMan wasn't a plant Navi, so the Grass Stage wouldn't give him any benefits.

"What's that?"

"Didn't you once say that QuickMan was too fast for any weapon that you shoot at him?"

"I did." The Op nodded as his Navi closed in on GutsMan; one swipe of his fin was enough to log Dex's Navi out...

"That's all I needed to hear!" The chunky kid slammed two more chips into his terminal. "NOW!"

"Guts!" The giant Navi roared in reply, his opponent was rapidly closing in, and a split second later he was within five paces of him. "Wood Tower!"

"QuickMan!" Dave shouted as a tall woody tower burst out of the ground just in front of his Navi. There was no way he'd be able to stop in time! "Watch out for that-" 

A loud thud echoed through the arena as QuickMan crashed headfirst into the tower, which because of the Grass Stage chip was now strong enough to take the impact and stay standing. As a result, QuickMan was stopped dead in his tracks.

"Tree." The black haired man finished weakly.

"Hurry! Hit him with these!" The bald kid shouted to his Navi, "Cyber Sword, Download! Variable Sword, Download!"

"You lose!" The large Navi slammed his newly gained Cyber Sword forward, and clipped QuickMan just as the speedy Navi regained his senses and tried to remove himself from the tower.

The red and yellow Navi dropped to the ground, and then looked up to see GutsMan standing over him, his Variable Sword raised and ready to plunge downward onto him. 

"WHOA!" Dave yanked his wire out of the connection, logging QuickMan out of the Network just as the ape brought his blade down.

"Alright, we win!" Dex started to dance around the stage in excitement, for once in his life he had beaten someone!

"It was a pleasure, Dex." Dave tipped his ball-cap towards his former opponent, who was now gyrating around the stage. "Develop that skill and you'll make a fine Netbattler."

"And with that amazing victory, Dex moves on to the next round!" Ribbita shouted into her microphone. "In exactly fifteen minutes the next battle will begin, so don't miss out!"

"Wow." Lan remarked as he stood up; he didn't believe that it had been possible, but Dex had come back and done it after all.

"Where're you going?" Maylu turned and asked in Lan's general direction.

"How do you do that?" The brunette raised an eyebrow at his friend, "I mean, I know you can tell where we are by the sound of our voices, but how'd you know I was getting ready to leave?"

"I'm starting to enjoy having you two in the dark for a change." The redhead quipped, "I heard your chair give a loud squeak, so I knew that you had stood up."

"Hmm," Lan tested the theory by pressing down on his seat, sure enough it gave a minor groan of protest. "I never noticed."

"I'm impressed," Chaud shook his head in amazement, "You really aren't handicapped are you?"

"That's what I've been telling you." Maylu grinned, "Go ahead, Lan, if I know you then you're headed for the snack bar."

"Yep." The Op took his chance and escaped by dashing up the stairs, determined to at least grab a hot dog before this next match. 

Unfortunately, he was a little too anxious, and as he tore up the steps he collided solidly with a tall, well built individual. Together, the two lost their balance and crashed to the ground, landing hard.

"Sorry." Lan gasped as he tried to pick himself up, who had he run into this time?

"I had hoped to run into you," A familiar voice commented from somewhere to Lan's left. "I just didn't expect it to be so literal."

Lan's eyes widened in surprise as he hurriedly got to his feet and spun around, he was right! Of all people he had crashed straight into:

"Laika!"

End Chapter.

Next: Frostbite!


	5. Can someone turn up the temperature?

Author's Notes.

_M. n. Tenshi, Be careful what you wish for.  
__  
And don't panic people, there will be some SearchMan action in the next few chapters._

Begin Chapter.

"Laika!" Lan snatched the Netbattler's hand and began pumping it furiously. "I haven't seen you for a while, how's it going?"

"Fair." The blue headed man shrugged, he'd seen better times, but he wasn't about to let anyone know that.

"Have you been taking care of Sharro while I've been away?" The brunette proceeded with his questions; "You haven't had any more blizzards have you?" 

That remark got just a ghost of a smile on Laika's face as he shook his head.

"No, there hasn't been that much trouble since you left... which makes me wonder if you had anything to do with it."

"O.K., you've got me." Lan feigned guilt. "Trouble just has a way of following me around."  
  
Laika's only reply was to shake his head at Lan's comedy.

"So, are you in competition?"

"No." The man replied, he felt that that was a sufficient answer since he didn't want to divulge the fact that he wouldn't be competing for a long while, one of the results from his fight with Lan...

"I see." The brunette replied but didn't look convinced. "Anyway, come on, I want the others to meet you."

Lan turned and headed back down the stairs, this would be great, it was about time the others met Laika, so far all they'd heard were his tales about the Sharrian.

"Hey," The brunette stopped in front of his aisle, and noticed that Chaud had changed seats for some odd reason. He was now sitting in the seat that Lan had vacated just a few minutes ago, right next to Maylu. "Look who I ran into."

"Hmm?" Chaud broke off his conversation with Maylu and turned to see Lan's companion.

"Let me introduce Laika." Lan indicated his blue haired companion, "The same Laika that I've been railing about ever since the Red Sun and Blue Moon tournaments." 

"Really." The bi-colored haired teen got to his feet, exited the aisle, and extended his hand to the newcomer. "Chaud Blaze."

"So I've heard." Laika shook the Official's hand.

"Hello." Maylu also got to her feet and offered to shake hands in the general direction of the man's voice. "I'm Maylu Sakurai." 

"Sakurai? The same Sakurai from the Tag Team and Expo?" The Netbattler didn't wait for an answer as he returned the handshake, "The Sharrians have heard a great deal about your exploits."

"Oh?" The redhead inquired, just as Ribbita's loud voice echoed through the coliseum.

"And now it's time for the final match of the evening!" The announcer shouted, "Up next we have Tory and IceMan against ColdMan and Chillski!"

The two Netbattlers took their positions in their respective battle stations and prepared to start the match. At Ribbita's command they whipped out their P.E.T.'s and connected them to the Netbattling computer.

"Jack in, IceMan!"

"Jack in, ColdMan!"

"Power Up!"

The holographic computer set in between the two battlers flared to life, and displayed a standard arena, just before the two pint-sized Navi appeared in the arena.

"Who's the refrigerator with legs?" The Eskimo checked out his opponent.

"Who you callin' a refrigerator?" ColdMan shot back, "At least I'm taller than you!"

"By a cyber inch!"

"IceMan, calm down, we'll let our battling skills do the bragging." Tory cooled his Navi off. 

"Good idea." The Navi tensed and waited for the gong to sound.

Battle Start!

"Let's go!" Chillski slammed a couple of chips into his P.E.T., "Ice Cubes, Download!"

"Hurry, IceMan!" Tory duplicated the maneuver, slotting in one chip, "Ice Towers, Battle Chip in!"

ColdMan hauled his stubby arms back as three blocks of ice materialized in front of him, a split second later he had snapped his limbs foreword, sending the ice cubes sliding across the arena.

"Ice Tower!" The Eskimo Navi slammed his fist into the ground creating a small hole in the floor, that done, he sent a blast of his icy breath into the niche, causing a row icicles to pop out of the floor and head towards his opponent.

Tower met cube, and both shattered into nonexistence.

"I'm not done yet!" ColdMan's refrigerator doors popped open, and blasts of cold cloudy air shot out, each one began flying towards IceMan, trying to hit him.

"Yipe!" IceMan ducked as two of the clouds passed over his head, immediately they began swinging around to try and hit him again. Not wanting that to happen, IceMan took off running, trying to escape from the homing clouds. 

"Quick, get in front of ColdMan and then blow them away!" The black haired Op shouted, causing his Navi to see the way out of his mess.

"Right! Cyber Blizzard!" The Eskimo slipped around in front of ColdMan and then drew in his breath, his attack ready, he waited for the clouds to drift between him and his opponent. Once they were in position, he exhaled, unleashing a powerful blast of icy wind that swept across the arena.

The wind snatched up the clouds and carried them back to their source, ColdMan. The refrigerator Navi was blown backwards by the wind, and then was knocked further backward by his own attacks. Amazingly, he was spared from being frozen.

"And IceMan has taken the lead!" Ribbita shouted into her mike. "Although neither one has an advantage in this round, IceMan has turned the tables and is blowing away his competition!"

"That pun was low!" ColdMan retorted at the announcer, right before he got blasted with another round of IceMan's breath. "You ever heard of a breath mint, Shorty?"

"WHAT!" The Eskimo Navi shouted back.

"I said, SHORTY!" ColdMan retracted his arms and legs into his body, forming his square blunt body. That done he bounced into the air and began to descend, straight down onto the aqua Navi.

IceMan shrieked as the slightly larger Navi slammed into him, knocking him to the floor with incredible force.

"ICEMAN!"

"That's it, pound him!" Chillski shouted.

"Right!" The refrigerator bounced up and prepared to slam into his opponent again.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Tory's brow furrowed as he slapped another chip into his Terminal. "Download!" 

"HIYA!" ColdMan crashed down on IceMan.

Or what he thought was IceMan.

Instead a cute little doll that looked exactly like the Eskimo Navi grinned back up at him.

He had tackled a body double.

"If it's a pounding you want." IceMan's gravelly voice shook the air, as ColdMan got to his feet to see the smaller Navi a few feet away. "I'll give it to you!"

"Right," The black-haired kid jammed some more chips home, "Quake 1, Download! Quake 2, Download! Quake 3, Triple Download! Program Advance:" 

"Sigma Quake!" A ridiculously small weight appeared in IceMan's small hand, which he tossed through the air towards his opponent.

"You're kidding me." ColdMan chuckled, "That's a Program Advance?"

"Take a good look, refrigerant-for-brains."

"Huh?" ColdMan glanced up, and got the shock of his life.

The weight was growing bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and even bigger! And to make matters worse, it was multiplying! Now eight extremely large blocks of metal hung above ColdMan's head, ready to drop at IceMan's command.

"It's been fun." IceMan grinned, just before unleashing another round of his icy breath. "Cyber Blizzard!"

The cold air washed over ColdMan, somehow freezing his feet to the floor, and leaving him no escape from the Program Advance.

The weights came down, and then it was all over.

**_ColdMan Logging Out._**

"Yes!" Tory pumped his fist. "Great job, IceMan, we did it!"

**Wednesday 7:30 PM, SciLab**

"I don't like this." Dr. Hikari glanced over the information pouring across his screen. "We don't even know what they're up against."

"I know." Famous turned to face the scientist, "But thanks to their cover at the World Tour, whenever Nebula makes their move, we'll be ready for them." 

"Still," The SciLab employee ran a hand through his hair. "Why do I get the feeling that there's something that you aren't telling me?"

End Chapter.

Next: Lan and MegaMan in a duel of the dragons? Plus, there's trouble in Sharro. (again.)

_Now you guys know why I write these things in advace, the rought draft stinks._


	6. How am I supposed to beat THAT?

_Author's Notes:  
_  
_Yes, I did redo the entire chapter with a little help from LazerWulf. I mean, let's face it, I just went overboard on that one.  
  
M. n. Tenshi, Sort of, you see Otis E. Baka's (Thanks goes to L. Wulf on this one) name is a joke about a certain fictional character. Anybody figured it out yet?  
  
B. D. Yugi, it had better be._  
  
Begin Chapter!  
  
"O.K., MegaMan." Lan commented as he brushed past Chaud and slipped out into the aisle. "It's time for our first match. You ready?"  
  
"I was programmed ready!" The Bomber quipped as he started getting himself prepped for the upcoming battle.  
  
"I thought you'd say that." The brunette replied as he reached his 'Battle Station' and registered his folder and chips with the main computer.  
  
"AAAAANNNNDDDD Welcome back to the World Tour!" Ribbita's voice flooded the stadium as a picture of Lan and MegaMan as well as another Net Op and Navi appeared on the scoreboard. "Although it's only the second day of competition, things are already heating up... So we'll get right to the action, today's first match puts Lan Hikari and MegaMan against Otis E. Baka and DracoMan!"  
  
"Hmm, DracoMan, that's name's a little corny," Lan mused as he looked at his opponent's portrait. Otis had chiseled features, brown hair and piercing blue eyes, The Op wasn't sure, but he thought that Otis could be a Sharrian. DracoMan was about as tall as ProtoMan, and was fairly muscular, his deep red boots and gloves were set against his black bodysuit, and a thick blue cape hung down from underneath his shoulder pads, a small brown reed was attached to a cord that hung around the Navi's neck, the end of which had been cut to resemble a dragon's head. All in all, Lan couldn't figure out why he was called DracoMan since the Navi didn't look a thing like a dragon.  
  
"Don't get too confident." MegaMan called up to his Op. "Remember these three words? 'Wrath of Thunder'?"  
  
"Oh, don't go there." The brunette remembered ThunderMan's special attack, the electrical Navi could summon a blast of electricity that took on the form of a powerful dragon, the first time they had fought it, they hadn't done so well, but the second time they had managed to defeat it.  
  
"My point exactly, let's keep our guard up." The Bomber replied, "Hey, isn't that our opponent?"  
  
"Huh?" Lan turned to see a man that matched Otis' picture standing in the station opposite his. "You're right."  
  
"Hey, Otis!" The Op called over; "Good luck! And may the best Navi win!"  
  
"I'm not the one that needs luck." Otis snapped. "You will."  
  
"Uh..." Lan took a step back, what was it with these warm Sharrian welcomes? "O.K..."  
  
"So let's get this show started!" Ribbita wrapped up her speech.  
  
"Right!" Lan whipped out his P.E.T. and launched into his trademark Jack-In sequence. "Jack In, MegaMan! Power Up!"  
  
"Jack in, DracoMan, Power Up." Otis also connected his terminal.  
  
With the ever-familiar blasts of light, the two Navi left their P.E.T.'s and traveled through the digital world to the Netbattling mainframe. MegaMan touched down first, right before DracoMan appeared.  
  
"Let's get this party started!" Lan tossed a chip in into the air before snatching it and pressing the disk into his P.E.T., "Mega Cannon, Download."  
  
"Mega Blast!" The Bomber snapped his arm up as the proper cannon materialized around his right wrist, the instant that it had formed he was firing a blast of plasma energy that ripped through the Network towards his opponent.  
  
"Defend." Otis calmly replied. "Mega Cannon, Download."  
  
"Yes sir." DracoMan raised his right arm as a cannon resembling a dragon's head appeared on his wrist, at his command a laser exploded from the dragon-cannon's mouth, and shot through the air towards his attacker's blast.  
  
The two shots collided, before fizzling out of existence.  
  
"Just try that again!" MegaMan launched another round from his cannon, but this time he kept the 'trigger' pulled so that the weapon was firing one continual blast of energy.  
  
"I shall." The dragon Navi duplicated the move, and he too unleashed a blast of firepower from his buster.  
  
The two blasts collided in mid-air as both Navi continued to keep their busters firing. The result was a deadlock as neither attack was powerful enough to cancel the other, and so both Navi just stood there, refusing to be the first to stop firing.  
  
"Attack 10." Otis barked as he inserted two chips into his Terminal. "Double Download."  
  
MegaMan watched as his adversary's cannon began to glow with intense power, then DracoMan's entire attack strengthened, and the laser shot forward, ripping his own to shreds.  
  
There was no way that he could dodge in time, the power roared over the Blue Bomber and hurled him backwards like he was nothing but a rag doll. Finally, the Bomber was dropped to the ground as DracoMan stopped his attack.  
  
"MegaMan!" The brunette shouted. How could this have happened?  
  
"Ugh," A soft moan split the air as the Blue Navi struggled to his knees, "I'm fine, Lan. Let's take this guy down."  
  
"That was a sample of our power, Hikari," The Sharrian snapped, "You stand no chance against DracoMan, he hasn't even used his full potential yet!"  
  
101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010  
  
"I don't like the sound of that." Maylu whispered in response to Otis' bragging.  
  
"He'll come through." Chaud replied as he watched the battle continue, "He always does. Although I have heard that Otis is one of the best Op's Sharro has now that Laika-"  
  
"Forgive the intrusion."  
  
"What?" Chaud glanced around trying to locate the owner of that voice.  
  
"What is it?" The redhead turned slightly to face Chaud.  
  
"I don't know, I thought that I heard Famous there for a second." The Op replied as he finished his sweep of the surrounding area.  
  
"You did," The voice came again, causing the administrator to glance into his P.E.T. "Now, I didn't expect this to happen, but I need you and Maylu's help."  
  
"You do." Although it was supposed to be a question, when Chaud said it, it came out as a flat statement.  
  
"Yes, some one has hacked into Sharro's trade computers," Famous explained, "and is rapidly inflating the price of crude oil. As you know, the Sharrian economy is very fragile right now, and if this continues for much longer then we may have an economic disaster on our hands."  
  
"And you want us to put a stop to it."  
  
"Exactly, Famous out."  
  
"Did you hear that?" Chaud turned to find Maylu already standing up and ready to roll. "I suppose so, let's go then. And if... it won't offend you... I'd like to guide you out of here, since I know exactly where the car is."  
  
"I don't have a problem with that," The redhead replied as she extended her hand, "There's a time to be independent, and a time to let someone help. It would be faster if I followed you."  
  
Chaud took her hand, and together they dashed away.  
  
10101010101010101010101010101010?53552145?010101010101010101010101010101010101  
  
"Now, Electro Sword, Download!" Lan shouted.  
  
"Sword of Legends, Download." Otis snapped back.  
  
"Where does he keep getting these rare chips?" The brunette wondered as he watched his Navi attack.  
  
MegaMan rushed his opponent as a handheld sword appeared in DracoMan's hands. The Bomber swung his blade attempting to end the match, only to have his attack stopped by the dragon Navi's sword.  
  
DracoMan slipped away from the Bomber and launched into a dizzying spin before thrusting his blade out hard and fast. The Blue Navi saw it coming just in time to get his own sword raised enough to deflect the attack.  
  
MegaMan and DracoMan leaped backward, giving themselves some breathing room before running towards each other to try again.  
  
DracoMan came in low, swinging his blade at knee level in an effort to slip beneath his opponent's defenses.  
  
But this time MegaMan had a trick up his sleeve, as the blade whistled towards him, the Bomber went into a low leap. In the process he cleared the deadly blade before going into a quick somersault that just barely cleared his attacker's head, the second he was done he spun around in mid-air, kicking his foot out and catching the red Navi from behind.  
  
The dragon Navi balked underneath the unexpected attack and stumbled forward before regaining his balance. Quickly he turned around to face his opponent.  
  
"I've had enough, DracoMan." Otis snapped, "It's time to end this match here and now. Use the Flute of Dragons!"  
  
"Yes sir. White Dragons, come to my aid!" The red Navi took the reed that was hanging from his neck and blew into it, causing a sharp noise to fill the stadium.  
  
And then in happened.  
  
A rush of data filled the coliseum before forming three viruses in front of DracoMan.  
  
But these were a kind of virus that had never been seen before.  
  
They were huge, at least twice as tall as SearchMan was, and their scaled bodies caught and reflected every scrap of light that came their way. The dragons were entirely white, with a soft blue tint.  
  
"Now, White Dragons." DracoMan announced, "Attack and destroy him!"  
  
"It's not the attack part that I'm worried about..." MegaMan tensed himself as the dragons roared in response. "It's that 'destroy' bit..."  
  
"Electrical Blast!" The dragon Navi shouted as his trio of Dragons opened their huge jaws, in response a blast of energy exploded from their open mouths and ripped across the arena, gunning for MegaMan.  
  
"Barrier! Battle Chip in, Download!" Lan slammed the chip into his P.E.T. so hard that the device bucked in his hands.  
  
The Bomber called on the Barrier as the energy devoured everything in its way. The shield sprang up around him, protecting him from the attacks.  
  
"That may work once," The red Navi sneered, "But not this time! Triple Electric Strike!"  
  
Again the trio of Dragons unleashed their colossal firepower, but this time the three attacks fused into one terrifying blast of electricity that almost overloaded the computer servers.  
  
"Gotcha cover." The brunette struck back. "Anti Electricity, Triple Download!"  
  
Three giant lightning rods appeared in front of MegaMan, and began to affect the electrical attack. The giant blast of power veered off course and struck the Anti Electricity Rods, which began to glow as they absorbed the attack.  
  
The move should have worked.  
  
But it didn't.  
  
"LAN!" The Bomber shouted as he saw the lightning rods begin to crack and shudder, "It's too str-"  
  
He never finished his sentence as all three rods shattered into deletion, allowing the attack to resume its original course, and wash over MegaMan in the process.  
  
"MEGAMAN!" Lan screamed as the Bomber was thrown to the ground by the force of the attack.  
  
"I'll live..." The blue Navi replied as he forced himself to his feet, "Let's use the new one."  
  
"That P.A. that we discovered last week?" The brunette queried, "Alright then, let's show them what we're made of... Cyber Sword Download. Fighter Sword, Battle Chip in, Download... And Long Sword, Battle Chip in, Download! Program Advance!"  
  
"BETA SWORD!" The Bomber shouted at the top of his lungs as the three swords merged into one long blade on his right arm. Without wasting an instant, he charged forward and prepared to slay a few dragons.  
  
"Come on..." DracoMan whispered, "Do it..."  
  
The White Dragons roared as their challenger approached.  
  
"Bye!" MegaMan flew forward and swept his glowing blade forward, unleashing the powerful effects of his Program Advance. His blade cut through the air...  
  
And then it was over...  
  
Or was it?  
  
The White Dragons roared in fury as they began to dissipate as a result of MegaMan's attack.  
  
"You just made your last mistake, Hikari!" Otis snapped as he entered a command into his P.E.T., "Now, prepare for annihilation!"  
  
"Annihilation?" Lan quipped, "I don't think- WHAT!"  
  
"I don't believe it!" MegaMan watched as the data from the three Dragons began to reform, but it wasn't the old three Dragons that appeared...  
  
It was a new dragon. Two powerful legs supported a dragon that was at least three times the size of ProtoMan; its white body had a pair of wings swept out of its back. Its large head roared in fury as it flexed its small arms, issuing a challenge to his attacker.  
  
"What is that thing?" Lan stared at the screen in disbelief.  
  
"Whatever it is..." MegaMan raised his Beta Sword as he prepared to strike again, "Otis created it the same way that Mayor Daryl created that electric Dragon in Netopia, remember? He took the data from the deleted viruses and fused it into a greater... thing."  
  
"Behold, the instrument of your defeat." Otis explained his creation, "The Ultimate Dragon!"  
  
"Whatever it is." The Bomber quipped as he jumped at the beast and hauled back his sword. "It's going down!"  
  
MegaMan slashed his blade with all of his might.  
  
And watched it shatter against the monster's scaled hide.  
  
"It... it didn't even scratch him..." Lan gasped in disbelief as MegaMan landed and backpedaled to gain some distance. "How do we beat that thing?"  
  
"It's simple." DracoMan announced as he pointed at his opponent. "You can't! Now, Ultimate Dragon, ATTACK!"  
  
Ultimate Dragon roared in anger as it targeted its prey. After a second its head snapped forward, and discharged a blast of energy that was so powerful it distorted the image of the holographic projector.  
  
The energy exploded through space, and crashed over everything in the Network.  
  
And then it stopped.  
  
Everyone in the audience gasped in shock, DracoMan and it's Ultimate Dragon remained, but MegaMan was no where to be scene.  
  
"We did it." Otis nodded in satisfaction as he pointed at Lan. "You loose!"  
  
End Chapter!  
  
Next: One good Dragon deserves another. 


	7. Like this!

Author's Notes.

Begin Chapter.

"We did it." Otis nodded in satisfaction as he pointed at Lan. "You loose!"

"Oh?" Lan feigned surprise. "Do you really think so?"

Otis' eyes narrowed as he saw three small cartridges eject from his opponent's P.E.T., instantly he looked back up into the display.

"Remember me?" MegaMan literally came flying out of nowhere with his Buster raised and firing away, filling the sky with its power. "I'm BACK!"

"But how?" DracoMan demanded as a laser whipped past his head. His Ultimate Dragon was also withstanding the pipsqueak's attack, which wasn't really doing that much damage.

"It's simple." The brunette grinned as he picked up the chips that his P.E.T. had ejected, "You ever hear of: Recovery 300, Shadow, and Invisibility?"

"A three chip combo that saved your Navi," Otis remarked as his grip tightened on his Terminal. "And fails to impress me. DracoMan, destroy him."

"Yes SIR!"

"Get ready." Lan instructed his friend. "We're only going to have one shot at this."

"Right." The Bomber agreed as he waited for the perfect moment to strike.

"Attack! Ultimate Dragon!" The dragon Navi shouted to his creature.

The huge dragon roared in reply, before setting its sights on MegaMan and preparing to fire off another titanic blast.

"Now!" The Op slammed a chip into his Terminal. "Chip in, Download!"

MegaMan watched as the Dragon unleashed another blast of raw power that exploded across the arena towards him. Then the chip's power took effect, just as he was buried beneath the colossal barrage of energy.

"This is over!" Otis announced, just before his eyes widened slightly.

"Or not!" Lan retorted as he watched his screen.

The Ultimate Dragon's attack began to shudder violently, right before an ear-splitting roar shook the stadium.

And then it happened.

The Dragon's attack exploded, and shattered away, leaving MegaMan untouched.

"Thunder Unison!" The Bomber screamed as the debris faded away, allowing the audience to see him again. His boots were now a deep purple and ran up to his knees, his bodysuit had turned a light gray and was wrapped in yellow and purple chest armor. His gloves had turned purple while his helmet had turned silver and flattened out on the top to grow a lightning rod reminiscent of ThunderMan.

"He cancelled the attack..." DracoMan whispered at a barely audible level. "How?"

"With a little help from this guy." MegaMan answered as he formed a sparking sphere of electricity between his palms. When he felt that the ball carried sufficient charge, he threw it upwards. "WRATH OF THUNDER!"

The sphere rocketed up, trailing electrical power behind it, at the apex of it's flight it transformed so that the electrical energy took on the outline of a fierce dragon, which hovered in the air behind its master.

"The last Wrath of Thunder Dragon blocked the attack meant for MegaMan." Lan picked up the explanation. "And now, we're going to take down your Ultimate Dragon!"

The dragon roared in agreement to Lan's words, as the transformed Bomber nodded.

"It's time to give you a taste of your own medicine!" MegaMan commented as he pointed at the Ultimate Dragon standing between him and DracoMan. "Face the Wrath of Thunder!"

The electrical dragon roared in reply as it charged across the arena and made a beeline for the other creature.

"Attack!"

The Ultimate Dragon opened its huge mouth to attack again, but it never got the chance. The Wrath of Thunder Dragon curved around and crashed into it, canceling its attack before diving back in and wrapping it's long body around the white monster and pinning it in place.

"NO!" DracoMan screamed as he watched his creature unsuccessfully struggle to break free. "This can't be happening!"

"I'm not even going to touch that line." The brunette remarked as he fed three chips into his P.E.T., "Now, let's end this. Attack Plus 10, Triple Download!"

"I'm with you." The Bomber remarked as he donned his mouth-guard, and gathered his electrical powers for one final strike.

"Triple Thunder Shot!"

MegaMan threw his arms upward as the electricity, boosted by Lan's chips, exploded out of his palms and roared up into the sky, before regathering and streaking down towards the Ultimate Dragon.

His attack hit home.

And it was all over.

With one final roar of fury, the Ultimate Dragon gave into the power screaming around it, and shattered into deletion.

"It's impossible..." DracoMan gasped.

"Thanks for letting me know." MegaMan muttered as his Unison dissolved along with the Wrath of Thunder. "Now, it's just you and me!"

"DracoMan, destroy him now!" Otis snapped.

"Yes sir!" The dragon Navi sped forward, and raised his Sword of Legends in preparation to attack.

MegaMan accepted the challenge and rushed in towards his opponent.

"Let's slay this dragon." Lan quipped as he jammed another chip into his Terminal. "Wide Sword, Battle Chip in, Download!"

"Thanks." The Bomber whipped his arm around as the blade materialized.

"Your last mistake!" Otis snapped, "A Wide Sword will never stand up to the Sword of Legends."

"I know MegaMan." The brunette shot back, "He can handle it."

With those words filling the stadium, the two Navi's crossed paths and attacked.

MegaMan ran by, his blade carving through space.

DracoMan also sped past, launching his own attack in the process.

"Pathetic little Navi." DracoMan smirked as he slid to a stop, and watched MegaMan crash to his knees. "You loose."

"Ah, But the Wide Sword is quicker than the eye." The Bomber replied as he stood up and turned to face his opponent.

"What?" DracoMan's eyes widened just as he vanished in a blast of data.

_**DracoMan Logging Out.**_

"I... lost..." Otis whispered in shocked disbelief.

"Hey, there's nothing to be upset about." Lan left his station and headed over to his opponent. "You put up a good fight and almost won-"

The man snapped as he yanked his P.E.T. out of his station and stormed past Lan, not even bothering to reply.

"I stand by my earlier assessment." The Op mumbled. "He's a jerk."

"And with that amazing comeback, Lan and MegaMan have won this round!" Ribbita shouted. "And now we'll take a brief break to repair some of the damage done to our servers by DracoMan's Ultimate Dragon, but we'll be back soon with our next match, Maylu and Roll against Janet and Bloom! A match that is not to be missed!"

End Chapter.

_Wow, nobody got it._

_Well, as promised here's the explanation. 'Otis E. Baka' is an anagram, meaning that it's 'Seto Kaiba' with the letters scrambled._

Next: A burning battle!


	8. Play with fire, get burned

Author's Notes.

_S. H. Fire, go back and reread Chapter 6, it's changed since I uploaded it._

_M. n. Tenshi, -Author bangs head against wall- Do you realize that I have never done a crossover that you liked? Besides, there's more to Otis than meets the eye, so he'll be back shortly._

_SR71will, Yes, I do. Like I said, it's all a joke._

_Jill, -Author bangs head against wall repeatedly- No, I don't watch YGO, remember all the fuss in DBD 2?_

Begin Chapter.

"We're here." Chaud commented as he stopped before the massive computer mainframe of Sharro's Trade Network. "Now, all we have to do is find out who is inflating these prices, take him out, and get you back to the World Tour before your match."

"So what are we waiting for?" Maylu asked as she felt over the computer system, and formed a mental picture of the layout. After a second she had located the port, and was preparing to Jack In.

"Jack in, Roll!"

"Jack in, ProtoMan!"

"Power Up!"

A split second was all that it took for the two Navi to enter the computer system.

"I'm in." The pink Navi informed her Op, "And-"

"Flame Thrower!" A strange new voice split through the air.

"Barrier! Battle Chip in, Download!" Maylu slammed the chip into her terminal.

Roll summoned the protective shield around herself and ProtoMan, just as a long blast of flame came out of nowhere, gunning for the two Navi. But thanks to Maylu's maneuver, they were shielded from the attack.

"Heh." A red Net Navi appeared before Roll and ProtoMan as the Barrier faded out of existence. "Not bad, from a blind Op..."

"He's... weird." Roll described the Navi to her sightless Operator, "he's got red and yellow cylindrical boots and gloves, a red helmet, and chest armor that looks like the front of a airplane with jets set in the back... is this the BurnerMan we've heard about?"

"I'm afraid so." Chaud's voice was tense, "Get ready, this battle's not going to be pretty."

"Yeah, I'm BurnerMan." The hot shot nodded, "And you're history! Fire Blast!"

In response to the Navi's words, his right arm transformed into a Buster, which he pointed at his opponents before unleashing a beam of bluish white flame.

"Down!" The two allies hit the dirt, just as the fire breezed over their heads.

"Aqua Sword, Battle Chip in, Download!" Chaud barked as he sent the chip home.

"Hia!" Instantly the Raider was running forward as a moist blade appeared on his wrist.

"You might as well just give it up." BurnerMan muttered as he dodged backward, giving himself some more space between him and the Raider's attack. "Sharro's economy is ruined!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it." ProtoMan dove in and slashed his blade, only to have BurnerMan slip to one side and escape unharmed.

"Electro Sword, Download!" Chaud pressed the chip into his P.E.T., in response, a sparking blade appeared around the red Navi's left wrist.

ProtoMan donned his white mouth guard as he went into a quick spin, forming his infamous cyclone move.

The flaming Navi cackled wildly as he dashed forward, keeping just ahead of the spinning Raider.

"Give it up, Official." BurnerMan snapped, "You'll never take me down!"

"But we will!" Now Maylu entered the battle as she pressed a chip into her P.E.T., a chip that bore WackoMan's icon. "Wacko Unison, Battle Chip in, Unite!"

Roll nodded as a blast of light surrounded her. Slowly it faded away, revealing the female Navi in WackoMan's armor.

"Wacko Ball Shot!" A white speckled ball appeared before Roll as she snapped her foot forward, putting the spherical projectile into motion.

BurnerMan saw it coming, but couldn't get out of the way in time. The spinning ball slammed into him, and knocked him backward, right into ProtoMan's cyclone. Where the Raider's swords slashed against him repeatedly before the spinning Navi passed him by and allowed the dark Navi to drop to the ground.

"That was easy." Roll commented as her Unison dissolved and ProtoMan emerged from his whirlwind.

"Too easy."

"Did you really think that I'd go down that quick?" BurnerMan snapped as a soft glow enveloped him and his wounds healed over. Quickly the dark Navi got to his feet and prepared to attack again. "I'm just getting warmed up! Fire Blast!"

Roll and ProtoMan leapt away as the blast of flame covered the area that they had just vacated.

"Bubbler, Battle Chip in, Download!" Maylu announced.

"Right, he's all washed up!" Roll quipped as she raised her knew weapon and cut loose.

"Ha!" The flaming Navi cackled as he threw himself upward, just managing to clear the attack, instantly he was bringing his weapon up to fire again.

Again, ProtoMan and Roll were forced to dive for cover.

"Now, to end this!" The flaming Navi laughed wildly, "Flaming Strike!"

The Navi launched Fireball forward, a fireball that took on a 'plus' shape, and raced towards the other two Navi.

ProtoMan and Roll were thrown backward as the flaming projectile rammed up against them.

"Face it," BurnerMan smirked as his fireball dissolved away and he pointed his Buster at the two downed Navi. "You're through!"

As expected, when the burning Navi made that statement, disaster struck.

Disaster for BurnerMan that is.

A brief spark of light erupted from a darkened corner of the Network, revealing the shadowy outline of a familiar Navi, right before a long purple burst of Plasma energy arced through the air. The attack collided with BurnerMan's wrist, knocking it out of its buster form and causing the renegade to grab onto it with his free hand.

SearchMan stepped into view, his mammoth cannon raised and pointed at the hacker.

"You!"

"Correct."

Roll examined their new ally. He was fairly tall, with green metallic boots that ran up past his yellow knee-guards and into the armor covering his thighs. Green armor and shoulder pads protected his chest, and he had a large cannon permanently fixed on his right arm. Long orange hair flowed out of his banded hat.

"This is SearchMan?" The pink Navi queried.

"Yes," A link to Laika appeared on the two Op's P.E.T.'s. "Since the other guard is busy, I'm here to help you."

"Always appreciated." Chaud replied, "Now, let's put an end to this threat."

"My thoughts exactly." BurnerMan twisted the Op's statement as he raised his hands. "Flame Throwers!"

In response to the Navi's command, four large cannons appeared around the trio of allies and began firing. But not at them, the flame-throwers fired around them, forming a ring of deadly flame around the Officials, and boxing them in with nowhere to run.

"We're only going to have one shot at this." Maylu announced as her hand hovered over the button on her Terminal.

"I know, so let's do it." Roll replied.

"Style Change!" The redhead activated the move from her end.

"Aqua Shield!" The pink Navi shouted as her armor took on a blue tint and she gained an oval shield on her right glove.

"Fire Blast!" The flaming Navi unleashed anther round of his white-hot flames.

Roll stepped in front of the other two Navi, her shield raised. The blast of flame raced into her defense and fizzled out of existence.

"Now." SearchMan raised his hand as a floating satellite appeared overhead. "Target, Lock, FIRE!"

A beam of energy lanced out of the machine, and struck the flaming Navi, knocking him aside and clearing the way for ProtoMan's move.

"Wave Sword, Download!" Chaud instructed.

The Raider clenched his fist as it transformed into the Wave Sword; quickly he slashed in front of him, unleashing a blast of firepower that raced forward. The energy swept through one of the flame-throwers, deleting it instantly, and continued on before it blew over BurnerMan.

"Now!" Roll's shield transformed into a long funneled cannon, right before a blast of water erupted from the weapon and slammed up against BurnerMan. "Aqua Crash!"

"NO!" The renegade shrieked as he was doused in the cooling liquid. "Mark my words, I will return, and I'll be even stronger!"

**_BurnerMan, Logging Out._**

"SearchMan, undo the damage and return the prices to normal level." Laika instructed his Navi.

"Right away."

"Oh no..." Chaud's eyes widened as he glanced at his P.E.T. to check the time. "We've got to hurry!"

"What's wrong?" Maylu wanted to know. They had just beaten BurnerMan, what was there to be worried about?

"You're match!" The Official explained as he grabbed the redhead's hand and pulled her away from the computer. "You were supposed to have been there for it over twenty minutes ago! Come on, we've got to get back there fast!"

End Chapter.

Next: War of the Roses.


	9. War of the Roses

_Author's Notes. Yes, I know the updates a sporadic, but I warned you about that._

_To be honest, I'm having a lot of trouble with this fic for some strange reason..._

Begin Chapter!

"Where are they?" Lan stormed around their empty seats.

"I wish I knew." MegaMan replied, "Neither one of them's answering the phone, and if they aren't back in about... two minutes, then Maylu looses her match by default."

"Something big must have come up." The brunette concluded as he continued to scan the bleachers. "It's the only reason that they'd have left like this."

"And we're back!" Ribbita shouted at the top of her lungs. "Now that the World Tour server has been repaired, then we are ready to begin again! Will our next two battlers, Maylu Sakurai and Janet Petiole, please come to their stations? This match will begin in exactly one minute!"

"One minute!?" Lan shrieked in disbelief.

"Come on..." MegaMan dialed the two numbers once again. "Somebody answer!"

"And I don't know what the problem is..." Ribbita's voice reflected her bewilderment, "but Maylu has not entered her station yet! If she doesn't arrive in the next thirty seconds, she will be disqualified."

"We're here!" Chaud's voice flooded the stadium as everyone turned to see the two friends explode through the doorway. Quickly he led Maylu over to her station, and then retreated up to his seat next to Lan.

"Cutting it kind of close there." Lan voiced his disapproval.

"Sorry," The Op replied, "We got called away on business. How'd you do?"

"We smoked him." The brunette grinned, "Piece of cake."

"In other words, Otis nearly wiped the floor with you."

Before Lan could reply, Ribbita interrupted again.

"Now that our battlers have arrived, let's start this match!"

"Let's go, Roll." Maylu felt out the connection and then proceeded to connect her P.E.T. "Jack in, and Power up!"

"Before we begin," Janet disagreed, "I want to say that it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Sakurai."

"Oh?"

"Yes, you see, I went blind in a car accident several years ago. But unlike you, I just moped and pitied myself about it, then I heard about what you had succeeded in doing... and... it gave me the courage to start living my life again."

"You're blind too?" Maylu couldn't believe her ears.

"I am." Janet nodded, "And so I have a lot to thank you for."

"I'm... well... I don't know what to say..."

"I just wanted to thank you." The Netbattler continued, "But don't think that I'm going to go easy on you. We're still going to give it our best."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Maylu agreed.

"Alright then, Jack in, Bloom, Power up!"

With the required blast of light, the two Navi entered the Network.

"I'm in." Roll called back, "As we expected, Bloom's a plant type Navi with dark gold armor over a verdant bodysuit."

"Let's go!" Janet announced, "Wood Tower, Battle Chip in, Download!"

"Heater, Download!" Maylu countered.

Roll summoned her Heater as she watched the Wood Towers race across the field towards her. When she felt that they were properly in range, she raised her cannon and fired, her shot exploded against the towers and took them off of the field.

"I'm used to defending against fire attacks." Janet replied as her Navi unleashed a blast from her default buster, "So don't expect that strategy to work against me."

"I wasn't expecting it to." The redhead replied, "In fact, I think we'll even the playing field a little."

"My thoughts exactly." Roll commented as she dove out of the shot's way.

"Style Change!"

"Wood Shadow!" The pink Navi cried as her boots and gloves turned green and grew yellow knee/elbow pads. Her bodysuit took on gray tones as her body armor turned verdant as two red shoulder pads resembling petals appeared, then her helmet switched to green as her hair filled out and a mouth guard appeared.

"Cyber Sword, Download!" Maylu, issuing a silent challenge, felt over her deck, singled out the chip, and slid it home.

"I'll take that one!" The Netbattler accepted the dare. "Cyber Sword, Download!"

The two Navi mirrored each other perfectly as they activated the Swords and rushed in to attack.

"Grass Stage, Download!" Janet shouted.

The field grew long blades of foliage as the Roll and Bloom's swords met in a shower of sparks.

Roll blocked her opponent's next thrust, and then the healer countered by launching into a sharp forward thrust, only to have her blade blocked by her opponent's. Quickly she brought her weapon back into a defensive position, just in time to stop the plant Navi's next attack.

"Let's turn things up a notch." Janet instructed her Navi. "Bamboo Sword, Download!"

The gold Navi switched to the new weapon and began attacking again. This time she ignored any opening to attack Roll directly and focused all of her slashes against her opponent's blade.

"She's focusing on the sword!" Roll shouted as she deflected another one of Bloom's powerful slashes. "I think she's trying to break it."

"Hang on! We'll figure something out, the solution may just be _hidden_ for now..."

The healer smiled as she dodged another one of Bloom's attacks, that code phrase was all she needed to hear...

The plant Navi lashed out again, and her sword made solid contact with her adversary's blade.

Everyone gasped as the Bamboo Sword, powered up by Bloom's plant element, cut right through Roll's standard sword, causing the top half to shatter into thousands of pieces.

"Gotcha!" The plant Navi announced as she hauled back her blade for another strike.

Roll just stood there, keeping the half of a blade that she had raised.

Bloom attacked, sending her sword slicing through the air.

"Bye!" The healer announced, signaling Maylu about her move, right before she vanished from sight.

"What?!" Bloom shouted in disbelief as her blade whistled harmlessly through the air. "She disappeared!"

"It's the Shadow Style!" Janet caught onto the move, "It lets Roll turn invisible for a short period of time. Look out! She could attack from anywhere!"

"Now, Roll!" Maylu shouted.

"Right!" The transformed Navi shot back into view from behind Bloom, and launched three small Shurikens at her opponent.

"Nice try." Janet slid a chip into her P.E.T., "Leaf Shield, Download!"

"They didn't make it." Roll reported to her Op as the spinning disks bounced off of the plant Navi's shield.

Maylu bit her lip as she thought through their various options. Roll could go into Heat Custom, and then have an easy battle, but she didn't want to win like that, she wanted Janet to have a fighting chance... Wait... what if they...?

"Wide Sword, Download!" The redhead pushed the chip into her gate, a small plan was forming in her mind.

"Thanks!" Roll acknowledged the fact that she had received the weapon, before racing in and resuming her duel with Bloom.

The two Navi attacked, dodged, and parried repeatedly, neither one scoring a hit.

"Now, Remote Blaster, Download!" Janet announced.

"Roll, when I say, jump as far back as you can." Maylu instructed her companion.

"I hear you." The healer blocked another thrust of her opponent's blade.

The redheaded Netbattler waited until the sound of the Remobit firing reached her ears.

"Now!"

Instantly Roll launched herself backward, and just barely managed to avoid the burst of energy that had been aimed in her direction.

"Keep Bloom off balance with these!" Maylu fed three chips into her terminal in rapid succession, "Burners, Battle Chips in, Triple Download!"

As the healer touched down from her leap, she raised a hand and summoned the bird-like viruses, which immediately targeted her opponent and went racing in to ram the plant Navi.

"I've got it covered." Bloom commented as she twisted and turned out of the Burner's way.

"We're almost there." The redhead explained, "Deactivate the Style Change and-"

"I think I know what you're thinking!" Roll hastily returned to her default style, before unleashing a small pink heart that flew across the arena and crashed into the Remobit. "Roll Control!"

"Uh oh..." Janet realized that they had been had. "Watch out!"

"Fire!" The pink healer commanded her new virus.

The blaster rotated, and then fired off another spurt of energy towards the plant Navi.

Bloom didn't have a chance.

For one thing, she was too busy dodging the multiple Burners to worry about the Remote Blaster, and so she was caught full force by the attack and thrown through the air across the arena.

"Now, Fire Sword, Download!" Maylu downloaded the upgrade.

"This will do." The flaming blade appeared around the pink Navi's wrist, and she rushed in towards her stunned opponent.

"Aqua Sword, Download!"

Bloom summoned the weapon, and then wobbled to her feet as Roll closed in.

The two met in an explosion of light as their differentiating elements battled against each other.

Slowly the light faded away...

And then it was over.

Roll came into view, and deactivated her blade.

Bloom fell to the floor, right before she vanished in an explosion of data.

**_Bloom Logging Out._**

"And this match is over!" Ribbita roared to the cheering crowd, "Roll and Maylu have done it again!"

"Ms. Sakurai." Janet headed over to her former opponent as Maylu jacked Roll out. "It was a pleasure, I'll never forget meeting you."

"Please, call me Maylu." The redhead replied, "All of my friends do."

"You mean-?"

"I do." The smile was as bright in her voice as it was on the girl's face. "I consider you my friend now, Janet."

Meanwhile, Lan had just received a welcome visit from Laika.

"Laika!" The brunette greeted his companion.

"Lan." The Sharrian nodded, "You deserve to know that I am grateful to you."

"You are?" Lan tried to figure out just what he had done to receive those words. "What for?"

"Indirectly, you have saved my job." Laika explained his frosty exterior melting just a little, "If you will remember, you battled Otis and DracoMan recently."

"I remember," The Op still didn't make the connection.

"Otis was to be my replacement. After my Netbattle against you, the president began to doubt my capabilities. However, in part to my work on the oil situation, and your defeating Otis, I have been reinstated. For that I owe you my thanks."

"Well, uh, you're welcome..." The brunette stuttered over his words, "It's not like I could let old dragon-breath beat me could I?"

"And now it's time for the next round of Netbattles!" Ribbita shouted, "Up next we have HatMan against RockMan! This is the last day of battles here in Sharro, and then we'll be moving on to the next stop in our tour: Netopia!"

End Chapter.

Yes, that was low...

HatMan is indeed a Net Navi that belongs to Capcom.

Next: Some badly needed subplots are uncoveredon the way to Netopia.


	10. Midnight Encounter

_Author's Notes._

_Jill, two reasons. 1) I never was that great at getting inside of her head. 2) In order to pull this fic off, I needed to be able to move between viewpoints. You'll see what I mean in a moment. Hee hee hee._

_S. H. Fire, there was a bond between Maylu and Janet, but I don't think there was one between Roll and Bloom. Besides, I don't like to do Soul Unisons with fan characters._

_No, RockMan is not MegaMan._

Begin Chapter!

A shadowy figure crept around in the darkened interior; overhead, the sounds of a Netbattle were in full swing.

"I've got you now!" A voice shouted, "Rock Cube!"

"Oh?" Another voice replied, "I think not."

"That's it," The figure muttered as it made its way through the battle arena's basement, as soon as it had finished it's job, the person would be gone. "Battle all you want, and our plan will succeed."

The dark form of a person sidled up to the massive bank of computer machinery and hard drives set in the center of the basement.

"Now, let's see what's in my hat this time!" HatMan's voice came through the air, "Unlucky for you! It's a couple of swords!"

"Ow! That smarts!" RockMan snapped.

"Pathetic," The figure shook its head as it opened up a hard drive and began feeling its way around the interior. Not that she cared about the match; she was more concerned with the black box that was hidden in the computer systems of the coliseum. "Now where'd they put the thing?"

The person fiddled around with the computer for several more seconds, before pulling out a long rectangular device connected to the motherboard. The person unclipped the box and reassembled the hard drive.

"I've had enough!" RockMan shouted from overhead, "Rock Cube Chaos!"

"NO!"

**_HatMan Logging Out._**

"And with that final blow, RockMan was won this match!" The announcer screamed into her microphone.

"That's just fine with me," The figure stood up, pocketed the device, and raised her P.E.T., "I've successfully retrieved the box."

"Acknowledged," a deep voice replied, "It is time to proceed to step two, I want you to take Blaze out of the picture."

"Consider it done."

"Thank you for your fine work, and know that Nebula will be sure to remember you in the days ahead."

"You'd better." The figure put her terminal away and headed for the stairs. "Or else…"

101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010

"Now that's surprising," Lan glanced over the display board as they prepared to leave.

"What? That HatMan lost?" Maylu hazarded a guess at the Op's vague statement.

"Yeah, I thought that he'd have made it to the finals…" The brunette trailed off as he and Chaud helped escort Maylu through the thickening crowd. "I never thought that RockMan of all Navi would beat him."

"It could have been worse." MegaMan shrugged from his terminal. "He could have lost to the Sledgehammer Brothers."

"Point taken." Roll agreed from her own terminal.

"Still, I'd like to know just why Famous had us join the World Tour," The redhead changed the subject, "I don't like working like this, not knowing what we're up against."

"I don't know why, but knowing Famous, he probably has his reasons," Lan commented as they broke out of the coliseum and back into the outside world. "However secretive they may be."

"Actually, I know why." Chaud spoke up for the first time since the entire conversation had started.

"You do?" Maylu inquired.

"Well, I wish you'd explain it to the rest of us." Lan muttered as he opened up the car door.

"Actually, all I have at this point is a theory." The Official waited for the other two to enter before he himself got in, "I think that Famous has us on this World Tour because there has been an increase in Netcrime across the world recently. I think he's gone to all of the trouble of creating the World Tour so that he can move us to 'hotspots' and lend a hand without arising suspicion."

"That would explain why he called us out to help Laika." The redhead turned that thought over in her mind, "But I don't know, I feel like there's something else going on that we don't know about."

"Well, I think we'll just have to wait and see what happens." Lan glanced out of his window; "Maybe we'll find some answers in Netopia."

1010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010

**Somewhere over the Ocean, Blaze Jet. 1:00 A.M.**

Chaud lay in his cot, tossing and turning more than he was getting some much-needed rest. Just because he wasn't competing in the World Tour, didn't mean that he wasn't involved, the sheer amount of paperwork required for an event like this was enough to drive a person insane.

Finally, he gave up, if he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, he might as well make it productive.

"Chaud?" As usual, ProtoMan snapped out of recharge when the Op started stirring.

"I'm fine," The Op emerged from his bathroom, fully dressed.

"Another rough night?" The Raider inquired, although he knew what the answer would be. It was getting close to that time of year again…

"Just the usual, I'm going to go do some work in the study." Chaud began to push his door open.

"Chaud, I'm always here for you."

The double-haired kid stopped, and then glanced back at his Navi.

"ProtoMan, thank you, that means a lot to me."

"It's the truth." The red Navi nodded as his operator left the room.

Chaud turned down the corridors and headed for the 'study' of the aircraft. Since he spent so much of his time on this plane, Blaze Quest had outfitted it with several areas that looked out of place in an airplane, such as the kitchen, study, and library.

As the Op walked along, he couldn't help but think back to that day… the day his life had changed forever…

Before he could become completely engrossed in his reverie, a slight sound caught his attention. The official slid to a silent stop, his senses on high alert.

Clank.

There it was again, someone was making noise, and it was coming from the kitchen area. At first, Chaud was content to dismiss the issue as Lan making another mid-night raid on the refrigerator, but that's when he noticed something odd.

There wasn't a single light on in the galley.

The Official went into action, as he headed over to investigate the noises. As quietly as possible, he slipped over to the doorway, opened it a crack, and peered into the kitchen, in the dim light from the corridor he could just make out the shadowy form of a person sneaking through the room.

"Looks like we've got a stowaway." The double-haired kid muttered, someone was in there, and didn't want to give themselves away by turning on the lights… And there was no telling who it was, a thief, stowaway or, even worse, a Nebula agent… "There's only one way to find out what he's up to…"

Chaud kept watch and waited until the person had his back to the door… and then he made his move. The Official bolted forward, burst through the door, and rushed at the trespasser.

"Wha-!" The person's cry was cut off as Chaud crashed into her, and sent them both tumbling to the floor. Without giving the trespasser an instant to recover from the shock, the Official dove onto his prey and pinned her to the ground.

"Now, talk and talk fast, what are you doing here?" The Op demanded as he struggled to get a look at his captive in the dim light.

"Will you get off!?"

Chaud's eyes widened in surprise, right before a hand slapped him across the face and knocked him off of his captive. A split second later he was reeling again as a foot connected with him.

"Just- just a moment." The Official stumbled over to the door, and clumsily hit the light switch, bathing the room in artificial light.

"MAYLU?"

"Chaud?" Maylu shook her head as she tried to get to her feet, tying to sort out what had happened. "What was that about?"

"I- well- you-" For once in his life, Chaud was completely speechless. Not to mention visibly embarrassed … "I heard someone moving around down here, and when I came to check it out the lights weren't on, so I assumed that-… I overreacted."

"I suppose so." The redhead finished standing up, and then quickly moved over to the stove and shut a burner off, causing the flame to die out underneath a large pot that was sitting on the range.

"One thing," Chaud was still trying to overcome his shock, "Why in the world didn't you turn the light on?"

Maylu stopped feeling through a nearby cabinet, to turn and 'look' in the bewildered Op's direction.

"Why should I?"

That's when Chaud felt like kicking himself, of course Maylu wouldn't bother to turn on the lights, since she was blind it wouldn't make any difference if the lights were on or off.

The redhead found what she was looking for, and produced two cups from the said cabinet. Then, she moved back over to the stove, and dipped each glass into the pot, filling each one with a light brown liquid.

"Sorry, I can't really pour like everyone else can." Maylu explained her actions as she felt out a nearby rag and wiped of the outside edge of each mug. "Hot chocolate?"

"Uh, no. I'd better be-" The Official cut himself off as the redhead shook her head at him.

"Loosen up, Chaud." The girl held out one of the glasses.

Chaud remained mute but took the offered drink.

"I couldn't sleep," Maylu explained before taking a sip of her beverage. "So I came down here to make this. It always helps. What about you?"

"What about me?" Chaud hesitantly took a drink, and received a pleasant surprise; it really wasn't all that bad…

"Why are you down here chasing imaginary burglars?"

"I came down to get some work done." The Op avoided the issue.

"Oh."

There were several moments of silence as they finished off the hot chocolate.

"Listen… I'm sorry… about jumping you like that." The Official began after a few moments.

"Don't be, I can understand why you leapt to that conclusion." The redhead replied, "I'll leave the light on for you next time."

Chaud stared off into space for a few seconds; a crazy idea was beginning to emerge in his mind… But that was impossible wasn't it? There was no way that Maylu would…

A slight thud yanked the Op out of his thoughts, and he turned to see Maylu setting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher. The very idea that she could function so well in spite of her handicap, well, Chaud couldn't explain it, but something about it appealed to him.

"I… Maylu, I…" Chaud couldn't understand why he felt so hesitant about what he was about to say, "I realize that this is going to sound personal but-"

"Hey, how come nobody told me about the party?"

"Lan?" Maylu called out as she slid the dishwasher door shut.

"It is." Chaud sighed silently to himself; his question would just have to wait.

End Chapter.

Next: Arrival in Netopia.


	11. Disco and black boxes

Author's Notes.

_Jill, Chaud/Maylu? Well, I have been settingthis up for quite a while now…_

_S. H. Fire, BreakMan blind? Not that I know of…_

_ElementalMan, Maybe…_

Begin Chapter!

"Here we are…"

"Netopia, it's been a while hasn't it?" Lan glanced around the airport, not a lot had changed since his last visit. "Hey, I wonder if we've got time for a dance lesson?"

"Lan, don't you DARE bring that up." Chaud shot a withering look at the brunette, who just grinned at the kid's consternation.

"So why do I get the feeling that there's a story you two haven't told me?" Maylu spoke her thoughts aloud as she followed the two Ops through the airport.

"It's nothing." The double-haired kid muttered, "Just a side note on the major plot line."

"Chaud got Raoul to come up to Den Tech to Netbattle me." The brunette plunged into the history lesson in spite of Chaud's angry look. "Because he thought I was getting too full of myself. Well, long story short, Raoul got Chaud to Disco with him."

"What?!" The redhead stifled a laugh as she tried to picture the reserved Chaud Blaze performing Disco moves.

"You are dead, Hikari." The official seethed silently, of all the times for Lan to bring THAT up… just when he needed Maylu to think of him as a calm unimpulsive person.

ProtoMan remained silent, although he made a mental note to bring the subject up again later. It might have been his limited imagination, but he sensed that Chaud had secretly enjoyed the experience… and enjoying himself was something that didn't come naturally to Chaud… especially since _it_ had happened…

"Oh, so now we're back to formal names?" The brunette didn't seem the least bit concerned over the death threat. "Of course, it doesn't really bother me, 'brotha'."

Chaud sucked in his breath through his teeth as he tried to retain his self-control. However, he did allow himself to start working on ways to make Lan's life miserable, and it wasn't long before he had hatched a plan that could be called downright dastardly. All he had to do was wait for the correct moment…

"Hey, you'd better back off, Lan." MegaMan decided to reign in his comical Net Op, before he wound up with a dead comical Net Op.

Lan appeared to sober slightly at his Navi's words.

"How come you never told me this before?" Maylu couldn't shake the crazy images out of her head; it was almost as good as ProtoMan's impromptu haircut during the Tag Team Tournament.

"No reason." Chaud pushed open the outside door and allowed the other two to exit the building.

Maylu just shook her head, Chaud really needed to relax around them more, it was almost like he had some deep dark secret he didn't want anyone to find out about.

101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010

Once again, the shadowy form of a female was slipping unnoticed into the Netopia Netbattle coliseum.

The form crept up to the first doorway, and connected her P.E.T. to a nearby terminal. At her command, the Net Navi overrode the lock command, and allowed its Op to enter the building undetected.

The shadow slipped down the halls and stairs, heading for the mass of computer banks located in the basement.

Abruptly the figure stopped as she caught a hint of voices, quickly the form rushed over and hid inside of a nearby closet. Just as three security guards entered that corridor.

Oblivious to the Nebula Agent hiding a few short feet away, the trio continued on, and disappeared from sight without so much as a suspicion of what was coming.

The shadow sighed slightly, as she crept out of her hiding place, and proceeded to dash over to the stairwell. Once there, she flew down the staircase, emerging in the grim dusty underground basement.

"This is almost too easy." The form grinned as she moved over to an obscure Jack-in terminal located in a side wall. Without a word, she connected her Personal Terminal and transferred her Net Navi into the Network. "Disable the security system."

"Done."

"Alright then…" The shadow recalled her Navi, and then disconnected the P.E.T.; things were all set for her to finish her mission.

Without wasting a second, the person rushed over to the massive computer bank, and began disassembling the mainframe.

In almost five minutes, the form had the main computer system stripped of its hardware, except for what was absolutely necessary for it to function. That done the person produced the small rectangular box that it had stolen in Sharro before connecting it to the computer's ROM data storage.

"Once more," The person connected her P.E.T. to the black box, sending her Navi into the device.

"How much time?" The Navi inquired.

"Make it… two hours." The form replied with a chuckle, "How I wish I could see Blaze's face when that thing goes off…"

"Yeah," The Navi agreed, "They think that this tournament's helping them, when in reality they're playing right into our hands. What could be better?"

"Just turn the box on."

A small digital clock face on the black box flared to life, and began counting backward fromone hour and fifty-nine secondstowards zero seconds.

"Jack out." The shadow retrieved her Navi, and then reassembled the computer as fast as she could. That done, she rushed for the stairs and headed for the exit.

She didn't want to be anywhere near this building when that box finished its deadly work.

End Chapter.

Next: Round 1 of the Netopian division. GutsMan vs. MagicMan!


	12. Countdown!

Author's Notes.

Ri2, sorry, but this thing is much worse than a bomb...

M. D. Trio, technically, Navi is the plural of Navi.

Begin Chapter.

Maylu sat silently in her seat, allowing her mind to wander. Assuming that Famous did have a reason behind this crazy tournament, why would he need not one, but three people on the job? What could be so catastrophic that he'd need Maylu, Lan, and Chaud there for it when it happened? And according to Chaud, the Net Agents had control over the tournament's movements. Did that mean that they themselves didn't know when it would strike?

The redhead sighed a shook her head, the next time she found Famous, he'd better have some answers. Frankly, she was beginning to wonder why she had accepted this job in the first place.

Then there was Chaud; Maylu wasn't sure why but she had the feeling that he was keeping something from them, and obsessing over whatever it was. Chaud really wasn't such a bad guy, he just needed someone to pull him out of his overly reserved state. Maybe…

Chaud was also pondering his thoughts from his position next to Maylu, but unlike her, he was putting his revenge against Lan into motion. That would be the last time that Lan ever brought that embarrassing situation up. The idle part of his mind quickly turned back to that night with Maylu… if he did go through with that, then he'd have to fight his father every step of the way. But then, his father always had been an uncaring man, and if he wanted to follow his feelings just this once, why should he back down?

Lan however wasn't thinking about that heavy stuff. He was wondering how long until his next match.

ProtoMan just stood silently in his P.E.T., waiting for his next round of instructions.

Roll was pretending to reorganize the data sector her Personal Terminal. In reality she was musing over the events that had taken place a few nights ago, she wasn't blind, no offense, so she knew that something more than a friendly conversation had happened that night... But still, she'd never expected Maylu to fall for Chaud; everyone had always expected her and Lan to get together.

MegaMan was oblivious, due to his Op's dense nature, to any of this. What he wanted to know was why everyone was being so quiet all of a sudden.

Not one of them knew about that deadly box located in the computer system beneath the stands. A box that was rapidly counting down to zero, and its timer was currently set at 23 minutes.

101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010

"Welcome to the next round of tournaments in the World Tour!" Ribbitta shouted once again into her trusty microphone. "So without further ado, let's get this event started! Up first we have Yahoot and the mystical MagicMan, battling against the large Dex and powerful GutsMan!"

The announcer paused as cheers flooded the stadium. After the crowd had quieted down, she continued.

"Our Netbattlers are in position, so let's rock and ribbit!"

"Alright GutsMan, we can take him." Dex zipped out his P.E.T. and went into his ten second Jack-in sequence. "Jack in, GutsMan, Power Up!"

"Very well, my young fool. Jack in, MagicMan, Power Up!" Yahoot also connected his P.E.T., despite the fact that he was folding himself into another contorted yoga position.

18 minutes.

With two beams of light, one yellow and one blue, MagicMan and GutsMan slammed down into the Network, and readied themselves for the coming battle.

"GutsMan won't take it easy on MagicMan." The ape rumbled.

"Your end is oh so very near." The magician replied. "For I shall defeat you here!"

"Let's get this party started." Dex slammed the first chip into his P.E.T., "Gold Fist, Battle Chip in, Download!"

GutsMan gave his battle cry of 'guts!' as his right hand became encased in solid gold armor. Not wasting a second he rushed forward, his arm cocked back to swing.

"Ghost, Battle Chip in, Download." Yahoot muttered.

"Gold Fist gives you power to boast." MagicMan raised a bulb-like hand and proceeded to summon his new virus. "But it stands no chance against my ghost!"

The ghost-like virus materialized in front of the wizard, and at his command it flew forward heading straight for GutsMan.

"Pound it!"

"GutsMan crush!" The huge yellow and red Navi sent its arm rocketing forward, and straight into the virus, or rather, where the virus should have been.

To the Navi's amazement, a ripple of distortion formed around the virus, allowing GutsMan's fist to sail right through the Ghost without doing an ounce of damage. Before the Navi could recover from his shock, the virus had swerved around and head-butted him, sending GutsMan sprawling onto the floor.

"Magic Fire!" The blue Navi capitalized on his advantage by pointing one of his bulbish hands at his opponent, and unleashing a blue stream of data that shot through the air towards the struggling GutsMan.

13 minutes.

The data collided with GutsMan, and erupted into a blaze of red-hot flames.

"That battle was fun." MagicMan gloated, "But you won't get up for another one!"

"That's what you think!" Dex shouted as theBarrier chip was ejected from his P.E.T.

The flames died down as GutsMan'sdefense wore off, the Navi had escaped unharmed.

"Now, Tri Fang, Download!" The bald kid announced.

"Guts!" The huge Navi cocked his arm as two sharp claw-like weapons formed, and the Navi threw them forward so that they rocketed through the air towards MagicMan.

"You are done for," The magician raised his arm, "I have summoned four Mettaur!"

The hardhat viruses appeared, slamming their pickaxes into the ground. As a result, four powerful shock waves erupted from the tools that raced into the fangs, destroying them.

"Now he's got five viruses on the field…" Dex looked over the map, things just couldn't get much worse.

"Cyclone, download!" Yahoot inserted his chip.

"I hear it will be windy today." MagicMan commented as he summoned his new fan-shaped virus. "With my Fan Virus on the way!"

So they got worse.

7 minutes.

The fan went into action, sending a miniature cyclone tearing across the field.

GutsMan couldn't get out of the way fast enough, and was snatched up by the whirlwind, after a few sickening spins inside of the tornado; he was thrown across the arena to the Ghost virus. The virus promptly slammed into him, sending the Navi plummeting to the floor, where the Mettaurs quickly clobbered him.

Finally the attack was over, and GutsMan slowly but surely got to his not so steady feet.

"Is GutsMan having fun now?" The Navi gasped.

"That does it!" Dex eyed the timer; they had less than five minutes to win this match. And there was only one way of doing that. "Black Hole, Battle Chip in, Download!"

"GutsMan like Black Hole…" GutsMan placed his open hands together as a small swirling black vortex appeared between his cupped palms. Then, the Navi threw it skyward, where it grew into a large Black Hole and began exerting its gravitational strength on every virus on the field. The viruses didn't have a chance, and were sucked up into the vortex.

"See ya!" GutsMan couldn't help himself; he had to wave to that annoying Ghost as it vanished through the swirling Black Hole.

"Now, he's wide open." Dex announced as the Black Hole vanished, "And its time for a Program Advance!"

"Right, which one GutsMan going to use?" The Navi asked.

"This! Time Bomb, Battle Chips in, Triple Download!" The chunky kid sent his chips sliding into the P.E.T., "Program Advance:"

"Guts Giga Count Bomb." A large bomb appeared before GutsMan, and began ticking down the seconds before it would explode.

GutsMan amazed everyone by walking over and sitting down on the explosive package.

"Don't expect that to work!" MagicMan chuckled, "It'll destroy you first you dork!"

"MagicMan, do not be fooled." Yahoot dissented, "this is a very powerful strategy, you would be wise to summon a virus to protect yourself."

"Very well, I'll summon a new lackey." The magician announced as he formed a new virus, "Arise my Spikey!"

GutsMan's time bomb hit zero, and began shaking as it prepared to explode.

"GutsMan hate this part." The large Navi placed his hands over his ears and waited.

The bomb exploded, sending the huge ape-like Navi flying through the air. MagicMan's Spikey leapt in front of its master, preparing to stop the attack.

"AAAHHH!" GutsMan rocketed through the air, straight towards his opponent with the explosion from his Program Advance trailing behind him. Amazingly, he crashed through the Spikey, dissolving it in the process, and continued on towards MagicMan.

"This can't be happening!" MagicMan stared at the Navi-turned-projectile. "NO!"

MagicMan screamed in annoyance as first GutsMan body-slammed him and the explosive Program Advance flooded over him.

3 minutes.

"Time!" Ribbitta shouted as the countdown clock reached zero. "Since neither Navi logged out, our judges will tally up the damage that each Navi received, and the Navi with the least damage will be declared the winner!"

"Its just gotta be us…" Dex waited for the results.

"Victory is ours." Yahoot disagreed, "GutsMan took more damage throughout the match than MagicMan would have with the Program Advance, there is no conceivable way that you could have won."

0 minutes.

Down in the basement computer, the black box reached zero, and flashed a green light. Then, it began downloading its dangerous load of data directly into the central computer. By the time its work was done, there would not be a single Navi left in this tournament.

"And we're back!" Ribbitta shouted, "And we have our winner! Unfortunately, Dex's Program Advance connected with MagicMan after the buzzer. That means that the Navi that took the least amount of damage was… MagicMan! Yahoot is our winner!"

"I don't believe it…" Dex looked heartbroken, stunned, and dejected all at once. So much for winning this championship...

The dejected Op turned away, and slowly headed over to the Chip Recharge Machines. For lack of anything better to do; Dex placed his used chips into the Recharger, Battle Chips could only be used once, and after that they had to be recharged before they could be used again. So Dex stood there, stewing over his defeat while the chips recharged.

He never saw a horrible picture come to life on his chips, before the image faded away to reveal the previous graphics and labels.

End Chapter.


	13. Chaud's revenge

Normally, I don't claim one-shot fan characters, but in this case I am. RangeMan and Ray are mine, and I won't appreciate anyone else using them.

Also, if you are one of the few who know about RangeMan, no, this is not a self-insertion.

* * *

Oblivious to his impending doom, Lan continued to stare straight ahead, getting himself psyched up for his oncoming match. He was supposed to take on some Op named Ray and his Navi RangeMan. Now there was a ridiculous name, who, aside from Match, would name their Navi after an oven? 

"Lan Hikari?"

"Huh?" The brunette glanced up to see a large man towering over him. "Uh, that's me…"

"I'm from the Netopian government." The man replied, "And-"

"You're here because they need some virus busting done." The Op grinned as he started to stand up, "Fine, what's the situation?"

"That's not why I'm here." The man nudged Lan with his arm, causing the Op to plop back into his seat. "I'm here about the tournaments. You see, we've had a small problem."

"Problem?" Lan's face went white. Now what was happening?

"Yes, it appears that you have entered several Tournaments on Netopian soil." The man answered, "Now, what the Netopian government would like to know is 'why didn't we ever receive our taxes on your prize money?'"

"T-t-taxes?" The Op's eyes went wide… he'd never even considered that.

"That's right."

"Oh no, Lan you didn't!" Maylu spoke up, her voice filled with shocked fear, "I told you about that months ago!"

"You did?" The Op realized that a large number of people in the audience where staring at him.

"Oho! So, you did know about this." The man whipped out a small notebook and began writing frenziedly.

"No, wait! I didn't know-" Lan's rushed explanation was cut off by MegaMan's voice coming from his P.E.T.

"Oh boy, Lan, you'd better hope that they don't find out about your bank accounts…" The Bomber mumbled.

"Bank accounts?" The man's eyes widened behind his sunglasses, "this is getting interesting… deliberate tax evasion…"

"What are you talking about?" The brunette shouted at both man and Navi. "I don't have any bank accounts!"

"Obstruction of justice: lying to investigators…"

"You're crazy!"

"That's enough, now take off your shoes."

"WHAT?"

"I advise you to cooperate." The man in black folded his arms over his chest.

"Do as he says." Chaud snapped at his friend. "You're already in way over your head."

Grumbling under his breath, Lan reluctantly reached down and slipped his sneaker off.

"Though so!" The man snatched up the shoe and inspected it closely, "genuine leather, that'll cost you big time."

"Huh?" By now, Lan was so bewildered he didn't have a clue as to what was going on.

"You're wearing an endangered species, that's really going to look good on your record. I'll tell you what, if you can come up with 10,000 Zenny by sundown, we'll call it square and the Netopian government will forgive your debt."

"10,000!" The brunette gasped, "Are you out of your mind?"

"No, wait, is that…?" The man leaned over and stared at Lan's headband.

"Now what?"

"Aha!" The government official reached out and pulled the Op's bandana down over his eyes, "Thought you could hold out on me, eh? Well now you're really in deep."

"What'd I do now?!"

"The bandana's 100 percent cotton, for that we'll have to up the fine to at least 100,000. How many Chips do you own?"

"400- Cotton? What's that got to do with-"

"WHOA! You're over the 250-chip limit… Let me see your passport.

"Now come on-" Lan stopped as he realized that Chaud and Maylu were snickering behind his back.

"Hold on…" The brunette finally put two and two together. "You're not really with the Netopian government are you?"

"Lan my friend, you've caught me." The man whipped off his sunglasses and wig, to reveal the familiar face of Raoul.

"Raoul? What made you do a crazy thing like this?" Lan slid his shoe back on and straightened his bandana in an attempt to preserve some of his rapidly shrinking dignity.

"You razzed Chaud about his Disco." Raoul grinned, "No one messes with my partner and gets away with it."

Bewildered, Lan just stood there for several seconds.

"One last question, how many of you were in on this?"

"Well, of course I was." Chaud smirked. "I told you that if you ever mentioned my Disco to anyone, I'd make your life miserable."

"Sorry Lan, but I was too." Maylu couldn't suppress her giggles; the entire episode had sounded hilarious.

"Same as." Roll called out.

"Guilty." MegaMan confessed his part in the 'crime'.

"Why I ought to-"

"Get down to the station." Chaud interrupted, "Or else you'll be late for your match, and then you'll be disqualified."

Although Lan grumbled something unintelligible under his breath, he turned and stormed down the steps.

"And Lan," The Official called after him, "Don't ever bring up my dance moves again."

"Whatever." Lan's reply was thrown over his shoulder as he smashed his way down the steps towards the arena.

"Oh, come on." MegaMan called up to his seething Op. "It was just a joke."

"A very cruel joke." The Op muttered as he stopped in front of his station. "Although… I probably did look ridiculous back there."

"More like 'stupidly shocked'."

Lan's eyes widened as he realized what his Navi had done. "You didn't-"

"Record the whole incident?" The Bomber's grin was clear in his voice. "Yep. I've got it right here on film."

"Oh, brother." The brunette shook his head as he glanced up to see his opponent. And he gratefully changed the subject. "That must be Ray."

"The guy in the gray jacket, blue shirt, and blue-jean pants?"

"Yeah." As Lan studied his opponent, he noticed that the opposing Op was blond, and about the same size as Chaud.

The two Ops sized each other up, and then simultaneously raised their P.E.T.'s. At Ribbita's command, they each went into their respective Jack In sequences.

"Jack in, MegaMan!" Lan whipped his P.E.T. around at arm's length before raising his device over his head; then he brought the Terminal down to chest level and hit the button. "Power up!"

"Jack in, RangeMan." Ray also moved into his sequence as he thrust his arm overhead with Terminal in hand. Then he dropped his arm and connected his P.E.T. to the Network. "Power up!"

MegaMan slammed into the Network, glancing around in an effort to find his opponent. It didn't take him long to spot the red Navi standing a short distance away, and in a few short moments, the Bomber had summed his opponent up. RangeMan was about the same size as himself, with a medium blue bodysuit and red cylindrical gloves, boots, and chest armor. On both sides of his chest plate a yellow shoulders pad hung from a loose connection so as to allow maximum arm movement. The Navi's helmet was crimson with a touch of azure on the sides, and a green visor wrapped over his eyes. All in all, MegaMan couldn't make any sense out of the Navi's name: RangeMan.

"I've always wondered how I'd do against you." The red Navi spoke in a soft voice. "And now I get the chance to find out. May the best Navi win."

"I hear you." The blue Navi nodded.

"And now let's get this match started!" Ribbita shouted. "Battle Start!"

"Mega Buster!" MegaMan transformed his right hand into its powerful Buster state and cut loose, peppering the air with his firepower.

"Ranged Rifle!" A cannon resembling a sniper rifle materialized around RangeMan's left hand, which he promptly raised and fired repeatedly.

Amazingly, both sets of lasers crashed into each other and fizzled out of existence, leaving both Navi untouched.

"Let's kick things up a notch." Ray slid four chips into his P.E.T., "Rock Cubes, Battle Chips in, quadruple download!"

"Rock Cubes!" RangeMan pointed his Rifle skyward as the four rubix-cube-wannabes appeared in the air over his head; the Navi snapped his cannon down to point at his opponent, and in response the Cubes rocketed through the air towards the blue Navi.

"Not bad." Lan nodded his approval as he inserted his own pair of Battle Chips, "But not going to work. Area Steal, Cyber Sword, Download!"

MegaMan's Buster transformed into a round hilt, right before a glowing blade burst out of what used to be the gun barrel. The transformation finished, the Area Steal took effect, causing the Bomber to vanish from sight.

The four Rock Cubes slammed into the ground around the now vacant spot in the Network.

"Oh great…" RangeMan turned slowly, wondering just where his opponent would reappear at.

"We'll be ready…" The blond sent a chip home.

"HIA!"

The red Navi's head snapped around as MegaMan came flying at him from the right; the Bomber's sword was already carving straight towards him.

"Barrier!"

A wall of semi-transparent energy exploded out of the ground around the red Navi, and shielded him from the blue Navi's sword attack.

"No way-" MegaMan's sword slammed against the defense and rebounded off, leaving him wide open.

"Yes way!" RangeMan dropped the shield and instantly sighted his Rifle at his opponent, he pulled the trigger, unleashing a burst of plasma energy.

Throwing himself to the left, MegaMan just barely managed to squeak past the attack.

"Fan Virus, Double download!" Ray shouted.

"This'll blow you away!" RangeMan grinned, as a Fan Virus appeared before him, a split second later the virus activated, sending a rush of air rocketing through the air towards the blue Navi.

"Not if I have anything to do with it!" MegaMan leapt out of harm's way and reformed his Buster; a quick Charged Shot later the Virus was nothing more than smoldering megabytes.

"Time to end this…" Lan shoved a chip into his P.E.T., "Yo-yo!"

MegaMan's right hand morphed into a flat launcher, which he raised and pointed at his opponent. The launcher opened, sending its load spinning through the air.

The red Navi bounded backward, causing the Yo-yo to miss completely.

"Sorry, but you'll have to get closer than that." RangeMan come down just in front of his pile of Rock Cubes that were still resting on the field, and just outside of the Yo-yo's range.

"Fine by me!" The Bomber rushed forward and snapped his arm forward, unleashing his yo-yo, which rocketed out of his launcher and sped through the air towards the red Navi.

"Checkmate!" Ray shouted as he slid another chip into his P.E.T., "Shadow!"

RangeMan's frame dimmed as the yo-yo sped straight through him without doing an ounce of damage. The spinning toy rocketed on and slammed into the Rock Cubes deleting them on impact.

MegaMan's yo-yo spun back into its launcher, as the Navi's eyes widened in shock.

A Fan Virus had been hiding behind the Cubes, and his yo-yo had just freed it! To make matters worse, the Virus already had a cyclone tearing straight at him!

"That's why I'm called RangeMan." The red Navi explained as the miniature tornado slammed into MegaMan and sent the Bomber flying backward. "I'm a long range strategist."

"Lucky shot." The blue Navi grinned as he corrected his fall, landing upright. "Although I do feel like kicking myself. Ray sent you two Fan Viruses, but I only destroyed one."

"Now, how about the Zappic Boom?" Ray interrupted the discussion.

"Fine by me!" The red Navi nodded, as he deactivated his Ranged Rifle.

"Zap Ring,Quintiple Download!" The blond sang out.

"Zap Ring!" A pair of electrodes replaced RangeMan's left hand, which he whipped up and aimed at his opponent. The next instantfive bands of electrified metal were zooming through the air towards MegaMan.

The Bomber gasped as the Zap Rings collided with him, and stunned him to keep him from moving.

"Black Bomb, Download!"

"That was the 'Zappic'," The red Navi announced as his hand reappeared with a large round explosive appeared in his palm. The Navi ignited the fuse, and sent the bomb hurling through the air towards his stunned opponent. "And here's the 'Boom'!"

"I don't think so!" Lan snapped.

RangeMan shielded his eyes as his bomb landed next to MegaMan and erupted into a blinding explosion of light and smoke.

"Yet another victory thanks to the 'Zappic Boom'." The red Navi nodded to himself, "But we really need to find a better name for that move."

RangeMan took a step forward as the smoke began to clear.

"Uh, Ray, you aren't going to believe this…"

"What?"

"We just blew up a Body Double!" The red Navi shouted.

"Look behind you!"

The Navi spun round, just as MegaMan clobbered him from behind with his Mega Buster.

"Surprise!" The Bomber charoled as he fired off blast after blast, and watched his attacks hit home.

"Wide Sword, Download!"

The Bomber broke into a forward run as his cannon transformed into a Wide Sword. Swiftly he closed in on his opponent and cocked back his arm for the swing.

"Yikes! I'm no swordsman!" RangeMan stared in horror at the blade slicing toward him.

"Jack out!"

RangeMan vanished in a burst of data, just as the blue Navi's sword whistled through the spot he had been occupying.

"Our winner once again!" Ribbita declared the match over, "is Lan Hikari and MegaMan!"

MegaMan smiled at his Op, as he raised his sword skyward in a sign of victory.

"Jack out." The brunette recalled his Navi, and looked up to see Ray. The blond Op was just standing there grinning, his hand raised in a 'thumb's-up' gesture.

"Nice match." Ray called over his shoulder as he turned to leave. "Maybe we'll meet again someday. In the meantime, I've got to train RangeMan in swordplay."

"You weren't so bad yourself!" Lan shouted back.

His work done, the Op raced back up to his seat, only to find Maylu and Raoul waiting on him. Chaud was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Chaud?"

"Oh, Blaze Quest called him back to Den Tech." The blind girl answered, "He said that he'd be back before we left for Yumland."

"I see… just like him to run out on us." Lan slid his used, empty chips into the Battle Chip Recharger, and turned to resume his discussion with Maylu.

He never saw the sign of the Dark Chips appear on his cartridges.

The next second, the terrible design was gone, and his Chips displayed the old uncorrupted labels and pictures.

* * *

That might have been rushed, but I wanted to get another update in before I disappear for a few weeks. (Christmas, Exams, etc.) 

Also, Chaud's revenge was inspired by a recent (excellent) episode of 'Sue Thomas: F. B. Eye'

And since I'm feeling... strange... here's a teaser: Chaud did not dash back to Den Tech on Blaze Quest business, he went for a different reason.


	14. Some people just can't sing

WB: Just a couple of notes here before we begin. I apologize for the delay in uploading this chapter, but a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome went into this chapter, so I think the wait was worth it. And, Dragonflare 4000, I'll tell you what I told everyone else. Maybe Maylu will pick Chaud; maybe she won't. There is no conceivable way you guys will be able to guess the ending to this fic, so hang tight.

WB: Disclaimer: Sozoji and KaraokeMan are not my property; KaraokeMan belongs to, and was created by, LazerWulf. Used in this fic by request (I told you guys I was taking suggestions for matches).

LazerWulf: Sozoji is a character that was used once in a Manga, and I chose him to be KaraokeMan's Op. I'm offering a cyber-cookie to anyone who knows which Manga he is from. And if you DO know where he's from, the reason he was chosen should be obvious.

WB: Final note, translations for Japanese words will be italicized and marked by slashes (/translation/)

10101010101010101010

And now, its time for the next round!" Ribbita shouted into her mike. "Maylu and Roll, against Sozoji and KaraokeMan!"

"How much trouble could one little, blind Op give us?" Sozoji appeared in the battle area. He was fairly muscular, with brown hair combed to a point, and decked out in one really bad Elvis-imitation suit.

"I guess we'll find out." Maylu brushed the insult off; she'd battled against that mind-game strategy for so long that she'd developed immunity to it. So try as he might, Sozoji wasn't going to faze her a bit. "Shall we start?"

"Sure, if you want to loose!"

"Jack in, Roll, Power Up!"

"Jack in, KaraokeMan, Tune Up!"

Two flashes of light shot down out of the Network's 'sky' and slammed into the mainframe's 'ground'. After a second the light faded away to reveal the two opponents.

"I'm in." Roll called back to her Op. "KaraokeMan… he's odd. He's as big as GutsMan, except he stands upright. He's black with a metallic blue trim; his huge chest contains a giant  
subwoofer, with a pair of tweeters on his shoulders. His head is a TV monitor, with his face on the screen, and he's got a microphone in his hand."

"Yep," Sozoji nodded, "That's my KaraokeMan, and you're toast!"

"We'll see about that." Maylu replied as she fingered her Battle Chips.

"BATTLE START!" The message flared across the screen.

"Now, we'll take you down, Fanfare, Battle Chip in, Download!" Sozoji sang out.

The pink Navi raised her right arm as her pink Bow materialized around her wrist, at the exact same moment that KaraokeMan lifted his mike to his face.

"Fire!" Roll got her shot off first, and watched in satisfaction as her arrow tore out of its bow and soared through the air, straight into her opponent.

"Whoa!" The musical Navi was knocked back a step by the projectile. "Now, that was a lousy attack, I didn't even make a scratch. But since I'm gonna delete you in this round, I might as well let my Fanfare sound!"

Roll didn't make a move to dodge or to take cover; she just stood there smirking.

KaraokeMan screamed into his mike, expecting his attack to materialize, instead only his amplified voice flooded the stadium.

"What!" The blue Navi blinked his video eyes. "Where did my attack go? Why didn't the Fanfare blow?"

"Yo-yo, Download!"

"Like I'm going to tell you." Roll decided to keep the fact that her Arrows could destroy any inactive chips a secret as she called on her own chip, forming a Yo-yo launcher on her wrist, the contents of which she proceeded to send spinning into KaraokeMan's frame.

"YAAHH!" The singing Navi screeched as the Yo-yo slammed up against him, and then the toy rocketed back into Roll's launcher.

"Knock it off!" Sozoji snapped at his Navi, "You're making us look bad! Her Op's blind, this can't be that hard."

"Right, this has gone on long enough. I still don't think she's that tough! Well, now her lucky breaks are a thing of the past, when I unleash my Sound Blast." KaraokeMan sang into his microphone, causing his chest to glow ominously.

"I don't like the sound of this…" Maylu muttered.

"I don't either- MAYLU!" Roll's reply was cut off as a deafening 'boom' came exploding out of KaraokeMan's subwoofer of a chest, the pink Navi threw her hands over her ears as her Yo-yo Launcher shattered, and the sound flooded the arena.

"Roll!" The redhead shouted into her P.E.T., "Are you alright?"

"That… wasn't fun…" The pink Navi panted as she tried to clear her head.

"Now this party's started! Activate your Subtitles ability!"

"Yeah!" KaraokeMan shouted, right before he placed his microphone in front of his face, as he burst into song:

"Mirai heto nabi wo tore!  
taemanai hikari de kotae sagashitsuzukeyou  
kasokusuru supiido de dokomademo yukeru yo  
kaze wo tsukinukete kimi to (kimi to)

/_Take your Navi toward the future!  
With its unending light let's keep searching for the answer  
With accelerating speed, we can go wherever!  
We'll break through the wind, you and me (you and me)/ _

machijuu ni habikoru misuterii  
genjitsu no hazama ni hisomu tegakari

/_The mystery spreading through the streets  
Its clues hidden in the valleys of reality/ _

jittoshiterarenai tattaima shiritai  
yuuki no puraguin tobikonde

_/I can't sit patiently--I want to know now!  
With a courageous plugin, let's dive in/"_

As KaraokeMan continued to sing into his mike, his face vanished off of his TV-face, leaving a blank screen behind.

But it didn't stay empty for long; lines of text began scrolling across the monitor, subtitling the lyrics that the Navi sang. When the lines reached the center of his screen, the individual letters burst out of the TV and rocketed towards KaraokeMan's opponent.

After expressing disbelief at being attacked by the alphabet, Roll launched into a round of tight gymnastics, avoiding the deadly barrage.

And still KaraokeMan sang on, joined in harmony by his Op.

Maylu couldn't tell which of the two sang worse, KaraokeMan, or Sozoji.

"Mirai heto nabi wo tore!  
taemanai hikari de kotae sagashitsuzukeyou  
kasokusuru supiido de dokomademo yukeru yo  
kaze wo tsukinukete kimi to (kimi to)

/_Take your Navi toward the future!  
With its unending light let's keep searching for the answer  
With accelerating speed, we can go wherever!  
We'll break through the wind, you and me (you and me)/ _

machijuu ni habikoru misuterii  
genjitsu no hazama ni hisomu tegakari

/_The mystery spreading through the streets  
Its clues hidden in the valleys of reality/ _

jittoshiterarenai tattaima shiritai  
yuuki no puraguin tobikonde

/_I can't sit patiently--I want to know now!  
With a courageous plug in, let's dive in/"  
_

"Somebody shut this guy up!" Roll panted as she back-flipped over the 'valleys of reality' line.

"I can just barely hear you over that ruckus." Maylu called back, trying to be heard over the clamor, "If you can hear me, hold out just a few more seconds…"

"Battle Chip in, Download!"

"Mirai heto nabi wo tore!  
taemanai hikari de kotae sagashitsuzukeyou  
kasokusuru supiido de dokomademo yukeru yo  
kaze wo tsukinukete kimi to (kimi to)

/_Take your Navi toward the future!  
With its unending light let's keep searching for the answer  
With accelerating speed, we can go wherever!  
We'll break through the wind, you and me (you and me)/ _

machijuu ni habikoru misuterii  
genjitsu no hazama ni hisomu tegakari- AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!

/_The mystery spreading through the streets  
Its clues hidden in the valleys of reality- AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!/"_(1)_  
_

"What the-?" Sozoji cut his ballad off as his Navi broke out of harmony.

"Ow, that smarts! I hate those little darts!" KaraokeMan muttered as he rubbed his bruised back. One minute he had been singing away, trying to blast Roll into oblivion, and the next a Burner had rammed into him from behind and sent him sprawling. Wait… if he wasn't singing…

"Alright!" Roll rejoiced for two reasons. One, the 'Subtitles' attack had stopped; two, KaraokeMan's pitiful attempt at song had been cancelled.

"Wood Tower, Battle Chip in, Download!"

"Wood TOWER!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

KaraokeMan was sent flying through the air as a pointed Wood Tower erupted from underneath his feet, the attack slammed up against the Navi, sending him flying backward.

The electrical Navi hit the ground with a satisfying crash.

"Are you there?" Maylu spoke into her terminal.

"I am now that the noise has stopped." The pink Navi replied, "And I think that its time to take this guy down."

"I agree."

"The only ones going down are you two!" Sozoji snapped as he fed another chip into his Terminal. " Download!"

"Zap Ring!" KaraokeMan's right hand transformed into a spoked Buster, which he raised and fired, unleashing five separate spheres of electricity at Roll.

"I've got this one, Maylu. Roll Blast!" Roll blew a kiss to some 'unknown' Navi in the audience, creating a small pink heart in the process. Quickly she snatched the heart and swept her arm out wide, unleashing a meteor shower of pink heart-shaped projectiles into the air. Her attack whittled away KaraokeMan's Zap Rings, and continued on to crash into the singing Navi.

"You might as well admit it." Maylu stopped focusing on the battle for a minute to make an outside comment, "You always blow that kiss to-"

"MAYLU! Not in front of the world!" Roll cried to her Op as her face turned a deep shade of red.

"I've had enough of this battle round." KaraokeMan shouted at the top of his lungs. "So I'll attack with the ultimate sound!"

"Perfect." Sozoji smiled grimly. "Let 'er rip!"

"First, I hold the mike above my chest." The singing Navi hefted his microphone. "Then I use my attack, it's the best-"

The Navi's words were lost as an earsplitting squeal erupted from the speakers built into his shoulders.

A ripple of sound energy erupted from the speakers and raced across the Network. Roll wasn't sure what the things would do to her, but she decided that it wasn't the time to find out.

For some reason that she couldn't understand, Maylu gasped as a sharp pain flooded her ears. But it wasn't anything major, so she blocked out the annoying pain and tried to concentrate on decoding the sounds of the match.

With a calculated bound, the pink Navi vaulted over the crescents of energy, clearing the attack, and preparing to launch a counter attack.

"More power!" Sozoji shouted.

"Roger that." KaraokeMan increased his speaker's volume and hefted his mike again.

Two sound waves exploded out of the singing Navi's speakers, as an even higher pitched scream burst out of the sound system.

Once again, Roll flipped over the rings of sound energy, but her concentration was broken when an anguished scream came from her loved Operator.

"Maylu!" The match forgotten in her concern, the pink Navi spun around and opened a link to her friend. "What's wrong!?"

She never heard the reply, if there was one. A wave of sound slammed against her. The noise flooded her systems with its intense chaos, rendering her completely unable to move, unable to think, as the Feedback washed through her.

In the outside world, Sozoji was staring at his blind opponent in shocked bewilderment.

"I never thought that this could happen…"

"Make it stop!"

The redheaded Netbattler dropped her P.E.T. as she pressed her hands over her ears in a desperately futile attempt to block out the high pitched scream of the Feedback burning in her ears.

"I don't get it." The song-loving Op stared at Maylu. "Why's the Feedback affecting her like this? Oh who cares? This is the break we've been looking for! KaraokeMan, increase the power even more!"

KaraokeMan's reply was lost in the noise, as the squeal of Feedback grew even more intense. All the while he kept his sound waves focused on Roll, keeping her paralyzed and unable to do anything to help.

1010101010101010101010

"Lan! What's going on down there?!"

"I don't know, MegaMan!" The brunette had bolted out of his seat the instant that Maylu had screamed, and was currently tearing down the aisle towards his friend. "But whatever it is, it can't be good!"

10101010101010101010

Maylu desperately tried to block out the sound invading her mind. Whatever that Feedback was, it was flooding her brain and driving all form of concentration away. To make matters worse, it robbed her of the worse thing ever…

Her link to the outside world.

Ever since her sight had been taken, Maylu had been dependant on her hearing to exist in the world. And now that the scream of raw noise was attacking her mind, all other form of sound had been blocked out. No longer could she tell what was going on… where her friends were… what was happening to Roll… nothing…

Never before had she been so… alone…

Even when she had first gone blind, she could still hear her friend's voices; it had been the only comfort she'd had. But now… that lifeline had been removed.

As the sound continued to scream its way through her mind, the redhead felt her knees giving out. Her legs were refusing to support her.

What could she do? There wasn't any way for her to connect with the outside world… Try as she might, she couldn't escape from the Feedback's grasp. Whatever that thing was made of, it was terrible.

Maylu's knees gave out as the she slumped to her knees; her hands were still clasped over her ears in a failing attempt to block out the sound. Trying to free her from the agony of the unending scream.

The redhead gave up as she pressed her eyes tight. It was over… she couldn't save Roll… she couldn't even think… All she wanted was for the torture to end…

Then for a brief second, a feeling of peace washed over her as she felt gentle weight on her right shoulder.

Maylu mentally blinked as the noise continued to assault her mind. What was that? It felt so familiar…

Lan…

He was there.

Maylu didn't know how she knew, but she knew that it was the brown-haired Op there beside her, trying to help in whatever way possible.

A familiar sensation came from her left hand as she felt someone placing his hand over her own. Slowly, but deliberately, she pried her hand off of her ear, ignoring the increase of noise flooding her mind.

Instantly a strong hand had clasped her own.

101010101010101010101010

Sozoji grinned as he glanced at the timer, three minutes and counting. So what if the pest's boyfriend had come running out of the crowd? Even if they could stop the Feedback there was no way that they'd be able to win this match, the Feedback attack was taking care of that.

The Op wasn't bothered in the least by the fact that his Navi was harming a human. In fact, he almost seemed thrilled with the prospect.

Sozoji's feeling of triumph shattered into a thousand pieces when it happened.

That blind Netbattler… she was getting to her feet with the support of that brown-haired kid!

Sozoji watched in growing horror. Although it was evident that the redhead was still combating the effects of the Feedback, her face was filled with determination.

But that wasn't what was concerning him.

Her boyfriend, the brunette, was glaring at him, and if looks could kill, Sozoji would be lying on the floor… smoldering.

101010101010101010101010

It took everything that she had, but Maylu felt out her Terminal with her free hand while keeping her other entwined in Lan's. After a second she located the P.E.T., laid it on the battle station, and proceeded to fish through her folder. There was only one chip that could save Roll now.

"Chip in… Download!"

And then it stopped.

The endless noise…

The confusion…

It was all gone, leaving that blessed peace of silence behind.

At first, she couldn't believe it, but after a few seconds Maylu realized that it was true.

The Feedback was gone.

"Maylu…" Roll's weak voice came through the P.E.T., "Thanks for the Mini Boomers."

"Any time… Are you alright?"

"I… I am now!" The pink Navi's voice was gaining strength, "Now, let's take this guy out! I'm going for it!"

"The fourth-"

"Exactly!" Roll nodded, "Its time to put a stop to this guy. Style Change!"

In response to the pink Navi's order, a yellow sphere surrounded her.

The transformation took seconds; the sphere shattered away to reveal a transformed Roll.

"Elec Guts Style!" Roll announced as she hefted her new arm into the air. "My bodysuit's turned a deep shade of yellow, while my boots and left glove have turned deep crimson. My helmet's turned mustard with red trim, and the robotic Guts Arm has appeared."

"Now let me quote MegaMan." The Style Changed Navi pumped her new arm. "Yeah, baby! I can't wait to use this thing!"

"So you stopped our Feedback!" Sozoji bellowed, "But we'll still win this match. You've only got two minutes to make the biggest comeback in history!"

"Then we'll make it!" Maylu shot back, keeping her hand in Lan's. "Let's do it!"

"Right."

"This battle is almost through! So I think I'll delete you!" KaraokeMan began to lift his mike towards his chest again. "Feedback!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Roll's Guts Arm quickly transformed into a Buster resembling a large crossbow, loaded and ready to fire. Instantly she raised it to bear at KaraokeMan and cut loose. "Elec Roll Arrow!"

An arrow-shaped blast of electrical energy exploded out of the transformed Navi's weapon, and tore its way across the arena. Just as the singing Navi got his mike in place, the energy reached him, exploding around his upraised hand and slamming into his chest.

And fizzled out without doing an ounce of damage.

"You foolish girl!" Sozoji screamed in triumph. "You forgot that KaraokeMan's an electric type Navi, so your electric attacks won't even faze him!"

"Au contraire." Maylu shot back, she didn't know what had happened, but evidently Roll had a plan. "That was exactly what we needed! Just try your feedback now!"

"With pleasure!" KaraokeMan placed his mike in front of his chest, and raised the volume to hear…

Nothing.

Dead air flooded the stadium.

"Huh?" KaraokeMan tapped his microphone with his free hand. "Testing, testing, is this thing on?"

"I don't get it." Sozoji scratched his head. "The Feedback's not working- She shorted it out!"

"Bingo!" Roll reformed her tank of a fist. "If you'll remember, my Elec Arrow ripped through your hand, which held the mike, before it struck you! Since the Elec Arrow carries more voltage than your mike was programmed to carry-"

"The Arrow fried my microphone like an egg." KaraokeMan's digital face fell.

"Right!" Maylu finished, "Take him down!"

"My pleasure." The healer raced in, her huge fist cocked back to swing…

"AAAHH!" Without his microphone, KaraokeMan had no defense. In short, he was wide open to any and all attacks.

So Roll didn't have any trouble arranging a meeting between her huge fist and her opponent's face. She even gave a satisfied smile as she felt her mammoth hand connect with her opponent.

_**KaraokeMan Logging Out.**_

"And at the buzzer!" Ribbita shouted as the horn blew. "Maylu and Roll have come from behind to win this match! What a comeback! And with that exciting note we have to end today's matches, but I'll see you again tomorrow bright and early when Tory and IceMan face off against Maylu and Roll!"

Back down in the battle arena.

"Hey, Lan." Maylu finally released the Op's hand.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks..."

101010101010101010101010

If anyone had gone looking for Sozoji after the match, then they wouldn't have found him down in the arena.

The caroling Op had vanished immediately after the match, and was currently sulking in a darkened corner of the stadium.

But he wasn't alone.

"You failed, Sozoji."

The Op spun around, anger blazing in his eyes to see the shadowy form of a woman behind him.

"Don't you EVER tell me what I have or have not done, Yuri!" The Elvis imitator snapped, "Besides, she played right into my hands, I didn't want to delete her, I've got better ideas."

"They had better be good, Nebula won't tolerate another failure."

"They are, now that Maylu's poisoning her chips, we can take her Navi." Sozoji smiled grimly at the prospect as he watched his former opponent leave the arena and head towards the recharge machine. "I just have to make sure that she uses the chips… And now that I know her weakness, it'll be a piece of cake!"

END CHAPTER!

(1) And a special thanks goes to rockman-exe(dot)com for the translated lyrics from the Japanese RockMan.EXE Anime. But if you decide to drop by that site, be warned that there are spoilers everywhere you look. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Also, I'm not making this stuff up about Battle Chips having to be recharged; we actually see them do this during the N1 Grand Prix.

Next: Dark Navi are born…


	15. The other side of KendoMan

WB: Okay… nobody guessed where Sozoji came from…

LW: Sozoji appeared in the 3rd Chapter of the Yu-Gi-Oh Manga. He was a bad  
Karaoke lounge singer who bullied Yugi and another kid into selling  
tickets to his show. When Yugi offered to sell the other kid's for  
him, Sozoji beat the other kid up, causing Dark Yugi to appear and  
challenge Sozoji to a Shadow Game, which Sozoji loses. It makes more sense if you've actually read the chapter. Credit to Kazuki Takahashi (creator of YGO).

WB: Azn Girl, Sorry, never seen Fruit Basket. (I have this weird ability to mimic things I've never seen or heard of…)

WB: SR17w., you'll just have to wait and see.

101010101010101010101010

With a loud 'hiss' the doors to the Arena basement slid open, allowing a man to admittance to the lower levels of the complex.

He was tall, and wore a white lab coat over an orange sports shirt showing the numbers '00', a brown satchel was slung over one shoulder, and his eyes were covered with a pair of wraparound glasses that framed his brown hair.

He was Mr. Famous.

Or, more simply, known as 'Famous'.

Famous silently entered the basement, and worked his way over to the mass of computer equipment stored there, equipment that ran and controlled every function of the Arena's building.

"I'm beginning to think that we've miscalculated." Famous spoke as he studied the computer bank. "Rather that providing cover for our agents, I think we've provided a target for Nebula to attack. We know that they have the means to snare thousands of Navi at once, and this place is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that power."

"The theory has merit." The Navi inhabiting Famous' P.E.T. replied. He was KendoMan, a swordsman that rivaled ProtoMan in his abilities. He wore a pair of medium blue pants, red fencing armor, and a fencing mask that allowed only his eyes to be seen. "In our attempts to prevent such a disaster, we may have assisted it."

"That's what worries me." Replied the scientist, before raising his Personal Terminal before a Network gate. "I think we need to have a look around the place."

"Agreed."

"Jack in, KendoMan."

"You've been rather sloppy lately, Mr. Famous."

Famous jumped slightly as a familiar voice split through the air. A split second later he had recovered, and was turning around to see a familiar figure standing in the basement doorway.

"Yuri."

"Not one for formalities are you?" Enjoying her success, the Nebula agent smirked from behind her dark glasses. "But then, neither am I. So let's get down to business, Nebula will be pleased to have a swordsman of KendoMan's caliber on hand."

"And what makes you think that I'll corrupt him?" In a perfectly calm voice, Famous replied. "I won't let that happen."

"That's quite all right, you already have."

With that ominous remark, the doors slammed shut, obscuring the Nebula agent from view. a sharp click sounded as the doors locked tight, sealing the scientist in the downstairs room.

At first, Famous was more than a little startled at Yuri's words, but he quickly brushed them off. Now he knew for sure that something funny was going down, he had to put a stop to it.

"KendoMan, override the door controls-"

The scientist's statement was lost as he looked into his P.E.T.

It couldn't be... No! This couldn't be happening!

"Why should I do that, pathetic human?" KendoMan replied.

But it wasn't the KendoMan that Famous had created; in place of KendoMan's normal noble bearing, this Navi had an aurora of arrogance surrounding him. A dark red tint had appeared in KendoMan's eyes, and a deep, purple misty glow seemed to surround him.

These changes, they meant one thing; and one thing only… KendoMan Dark Soul had been born.

"KendoMan… It can't be…"

"Catch you later, Nebula needs my assistance." As he spoke KendoMan DS vanished off of the screen, and disappeared into the Network.

**_KendoMan Logging Out._**

The purple P.E.T. Advance clattered to the floor, as Famous stared down into the empty screen, his normally confident expression had been shattered.

For a long moment, Famous stared at the abandoned Personal Terminal.

"Yuri…"

Famous muttered the name as he transformed his shocked horror in bridled anger. He'd take her down for this…

With controlled fury, the scientist snapped out of his daze. In seconds he had ripped the cowling off of the computer system, located a part of the computer that shouldn't be there, and discovered just what that part did.

"So this is how she destroyed KendoMan." Famous stared at the black box. "And she's been infecting the other Navi…"

"Well, no more!" The enraged scientist closed his hand around the sinister box, and pulled with all his strength. Famous smiled in satisfaction at the sound of snapping wires as he ripped the parasitic device from the system.

101010101010101010101010

"I still think that you need to let a doctor check you out, Maylu." Roll called from her P.E.T. as her Op stopped before the recharge machine. Maylu's reaction to the Feedback in the previous battle was concerning the pink Navi greatly. "Whatever that Feedback was, it really affected you."

"I'll be fine, Roll, there's nothing to worry about." The blind, redheaded Netbattler placed one hand on the machine, and used her fingers to feel out the slots where she was supposed to insert her Battle Chips. Once she had them felt out, she pulled the chips from her folder with her free hand and inserted them into the machine.

With no way of seeing, she couldn't notice the Dark Chip insignia appear on her chips, before fading away as if it had never been there...

"What I still can't figure out, is why it affected you like it did." Lan scratched his head as he stepped over to the machine. "I mean, I was right there and I didn't feel a thing…"

"Guys, I'm fine, so there's no need to fuss." The redhead sighed slightly, the ordeal was over, so why obsess over it? With that thought in mind, she quickly decided to change the subject. "What about you, Roll? You took quite a beating in there… are you alright?"

"I'm fine, and I'll be in top condition for our match against Tory. Speaking of which, I don't think we've faced off against Tory since the N1; this is definitely going to be interesting. Too bad we have to wait an hour before we can start, but those are the rules."

A small beep interrupted the conversation, as the recharger signaled that it was done.

Maylu reached out to retrieve her chips, not suspecting anything about the impending disaster.

The second that her hand brushed the chips, the blind girl jerked back like she had been burned.

"Maylu!" Lan, Roll, and MegaMan shouted in perfect unison.

"Sorry," Holding up her hand to stop any forthcoming questions, Maylu gathered her bearings. "I just… had a strange feeling there for a second, it startled me that's all."

The brunette raised an eyebrow in bewilderment. "A feeling?"

"I know it sounds crazy," Maylu explained as she shook her head in an effort to clear it. "But it… its something that I've only felt once before… right before the Empress mess started."

"Empress? What's she got to do with this?" MegaMan spoke up, concern showing through his voice.

"Nothing probably." The redheaded netbattler collected herself and then proceeded to pull her chips out of the machine. Abruptly she stopped, something didn't feel right about this, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Then again, something had been bothering her about this entire tournament…

Lan noticed her hesitation. "Are you sure that you're O.K.?"

"I'm fine…" Maylu replied as she slid her deck into her folder, but she couldn't shake the strange feeling plaguing her, and it seemed to be centering on her folder for some unknown reason. "Hey, Lan… do these… look right to you?"

Completely bewildered, Lan took his friend's folder and then flipped through it.

Nothing but normal chips greeted him.

"Looks fine to me. There's nothing in here that even resembles the Twisted Chip, if that's what you're afraid of."

10101010101010101010101010

"Sozoji, for your sake, this had better work." From her position in the crown of the Arena, Yuri spoke to the Nebula operative over her P.E.T., "Chaud and ProtoMan are being dealt with. So the show's yours, but you'd better be able to deliver. Nebula wants all of them."

10101010101010101010101010

Chaud stepped out of his parked aircraft and headed for the airport's entrance. It had been a hectic, nerve-racking trip, but one he felt was worth the effort.

Primarily, he was thankful that the Sakurai's had understood him. He didn't think that they would have turned him down, but from secondhand accounts, it was hard to judge just how sensitive the issue was to Maylu's parents. But fortunately, they had understood and, so long as Maylu agreed, they didn't have a problem with his plans. They even welcomed them.

His father on the other hand…

Chaud bit his lip as pushed the door open and entered the airport. Although he didn't want to, he replayed the experience in his head. His father had not been pleased with the idea, and had said so, only in much greater length and detail. But Chaud hadn't backed down; he had a feeling that his mother would approve of his actions.

Or would have approved, if…

But there was no use in thinking like that, what was done was done. And couldn't be changed.

"Chaud." The Raider respectfully broke into his Operator's thoughts.

"ProtoMan?" His concentration shattered, the Official left his reverie and turned back to the present.

"I've received an E-mail from Mr. Famous, he wants us to meet KendoMan in the Airport's Network. According the message, he's ready to tell us why he organized the World Tour."

"Strange…" The double-haired kid muttered as he glanced around the airport, searching for a computer port. Normally, when Famous spoke, it paid to listen. "I've never known Famous to bother with E-mail…"

"That struck me as odd as well."

Finally spotting a port, Chaud drew his P.E.T. as he approached the connection. Something about this message didn't feel right, he couldn't put his finger on it, but some instinct was screaming at him that this message spelled trouble. And long ago, he had learned to trust those instincts.

"Stay sharp in there." Pointing his Personal Terminal at the gate, the Official voiced his concerns to his Navi. As soon as ProtoMan acknowledged the warning, he commenced with the sequence. "Jack in, ProtoMan, Power up!"

A burst of red light flew out of his P.E.T. and over into the gate as the Red Raider jacked in, in seconds he had entered the Network. With the required burst of light, the swordsman landed on the ground, making a preliminary scan of the area in the process.

The Network was basically empty; absolutely nothing greeted him.

"Foolish Navi…"

From behind his visor, ProtoMan's eyes widened at the sound of that voice. It was the voice of KendoMan, that was true, but the voice had an undertone of… darkness to it.

"ProtoMan, behind you!"

The second that he heard Chaud's warning, the Raider was spinning around, his neon-red blade materializing on his wrist. The Red Navi finished his rotation just in time to see a familiar blade slicing towards his face, and instantly he had his sword up, blocking the deadly attack.

"Attacking from behind, that is as low as it gets." ProtoMan muttered as he strained to keep his attacker's sword at bay with his own.

"Ethics mean nothing to me." KendoMan hissed as he broke out of his attack, and readied his blade to strike again. "The end justifies the means, ProtoMan. Now, prove your worth as a swordsman or face deletion."

"You've gone Dark Soul haven't you." Although it was a question, the inquiry came out as a flat statement. Defenses raised, ProtoMan waited for KendoMan to make the next move.

"A very good observation."

As the Dark Navi spoke, a sickly purple mist appeared around him.

"You may fight if you wish, but you'll never pierce my Dark Aurora, so surrender now and make this easy." The fencing master smirked from behind his evil barrier.

"We NEVER run from a fight." Speaking in unison, Net Navi and Net Op took their stand against KendoMan DS.

The Op studied the problem before them. In some unknown way, KendoMan had gone into Dark Soul, and although the Navi looked evil, the real KendoMan was still there, buried somewhere deep inside that monster. Therefore, they had to take care not to actually delete the DS Navi, but to render him inoperable.

"Then, this battle begins!" As he spoke, KendoMan thrust out his blade, aiming for the Raider's chest.

ProtoMan fell silent as he sidestepped the attack, the yellow sword whistling just inches away from his frame. Quickly the Raider retaliated by bringing his own sword up and lashing out.

The fencing master snapped his blade back and spun it around, just in time to block his opponent's attack, the second ProtoMan's blade had stopped, he had hauled back his arm and was launching another attack.

The Raider saw the maneuver coming in plenty of time, and threw himself backward into a low vault, putting some distance between the two and evading the attack.

Enraged, KendoMan DS rushed in, his sword primed to strike.

After snapping his blade up, ProtoMan reflected his adversary's strike. Then his blade flashed out, cutting towards KendoMan.

The Dark Navi twisted his sword around in his palm, putting it in place to deflect the swordsman's attack.

"Foolish, don't you realize that there is no way you can win?" KendoMan attacked, his blade swinging towards the Raider's head.

"Now!" Chaud fed four chips into his hungry P.E.T., "Area Steal, Download. Three Cyber Sword Battle Chips in, Download! Program Advance: Activated."

The Raider tensed as KendoMan's blade came screaming at his head. At the last possible second, he activated the Battle Chips awaiting his command; the Area Steal took effect, warping him out of harm's way and to any spot he wanted.

The fencing Navi's face registered surprise as ProtoMan vanished, and his attack whistled through the now empty air. Before he could recover, KendoMan DS sensed some movement behind him. Snapping his head around to see what was behind him, the Dark Navi caught sight of ProtoMan racing towards him from behind.

"Program Advance: Triple Cyber Sword!" The Raider announced as a glowing sword materialized on his right hand. The sword looked simple, but it really contained the combined power of three Cyber Sword Battle Chips.

KendoMan tried to block the Program Advance, but it was no use, he couldn't turn around fast enough.

ProtoMan brought his blade down, and connected solidly with KendoMan's Dark Aurora.

Before the Raider's eyes, his blade shattered, without doing any damage, against KendoMan's misty barrier.

"What?" The Red Navi's jaw dropped in shock as he stared at his ruined sword.

"I told you." Smirked the fencing master from behind his faceplate. "You'll never pierce my Aurora!"

The next thing ProtoMan knew, KendoMan's blade was slamming against him, and the impact sent him flying through the Network.

Laughing wildly as his opponent slammed into the ground, the Dark Navi strengthened his Dark Aurora. Then deciding to taunt his opponent, he began to brag. "That was only a sample of my power. Do you really want to face my full fury?"

"Bring it." ProtoMan got to his feet as he raised his default sword. As he did so, a grimace appeared on the lower half of his face. KendoMan had actually struck him, on his right shoulder no less. That meant serious trouble as his sword arm was now injured…

"Oh, you're wounded are you?" KendoMan smirked. "Should I give you a handicap for that?"

ProtoMan didn't reply; he just tensed and waited for the Dark Navi to make his move.

"No answer…" The fencing Navi raised his sword, "Very well, face my true powers!"

The Raider kept his sword raised as KendoMan rushed him. As he waited, he could feel Chaud's support; the Op wasn't abandoning him, and would stand by him to the end.

"Now, let's even the odds." Slamming a chip into his terminal, Chaud announced his plan. "Delta Ray Edge, Download!"

Activating the Battle Chip's power, ProtoMan became red and purple blur as he suddenly rocketed through the air at incredible speed. After-images trailing him, the swordsman dashed around KendoMan in a tight triangle, striking him once on each side of the geometric shape. As soon as the triangle was complete, ProtoMan used the Delta Ray chip to teleport back to his starting position.

"Hmm, you didn't even weaken my Aurora." The Dark Navi muttered as a smile appeared on his face. "Let me show the real power of a Delta Ray!"

Not giving him time to react, KendoMan DS vanished, at the same instant that a dark red blurred triangle surrounded ProtoMan as the Dark Navi activated his maneuver. The three slashes from each side of the triangle exploded against the Raider just as the blurred image faded away and KendoMan reappeared at his original spot.

The Raider grimaced as he gripped his wounded shoulder with his free hand; this was not going well…

"End of the line, ProtoMan!" The fencing Navi shouted as he raced in, his sword cutting through the air.

"I don't think so…" Chaud fed a chip into his Terminal. "Life Aurora, Battle Chip in, Download!"

In response to the Official's move, a purple barrier appeared around ProtoMan, which should prevent KendoMan's attack from reaching the Raider.

Key word being 'should'.

ProtoMan watched as his opponent raced in and swung his blade at the barrier. To his horror, the energy wall shattered as KendoMan's blade whipped through it.

"He just broke through a Life Aurora!" Navi and Op gasped together.

"Correct, and now I'll break you…"

Too stunned by his barrier's demise, the Raider didn't have enough time to mount a defense as KendoMan drove in and rained his sword down on him. Finally, the fencing Navi made one final blow by ramming his foot into the exhausted ProtoMan's chest, the force of which knocked the Raider over backward to the ground.

ProtoMan's head snapped up as he searched the space above him, where was that blade?

Almost instantly he saw his opponent's sword tearing down at him. As fast as he could he clumsily brought his own sword up to block.

The two blades met…

And the top half of ProtoMan's sword went sailing through the air as it shattered under the force of the fencing Navi's attack.

"No way…" Chaud couldn't believe his eyes. With his default weapon broken, ProtoMan was practically defenseless… could it really be that they had been defeated?

"Puts you in a bad position, no?" Chuckled KendoMan, "You've been injured, weakened, and now you're defenseless."

The Dark Navi raised his blade over his head as he prepared to make the final strike.

"NO!" The Official watched in horror as the blade came down.

_**ProtoMan, Logging Out.**_

"What!?" KendoMan shrieked as the Raider vanished before the blade touched him. "He, he quit!"

Outside in the real world, ProtoMan materialized on his P.E.T., to the relief of Chaud. The Official wasn't sure if he had acted fast enough to save his Navi or not.

"Hmm, quitters." KendoMan's voice came from the computer system. "Be glad that there were no lives on the line this time, Blaze, otherwise you'd have failed miserably. But rest assured that we'll meet again, I promise you that!"

Ignoring the Dark Navi, Chaud activated his P.E.T.'s restoration program. ProtoMan had taken a lot of abuse in that battle, and he wasn't sure how long it would take the Navi to recover.

"ProtoMan, you alright?"

"I'll live. Chaud, for my defeat, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You gave it your all in there, now, let's go find Mr. Famous and get some answers. And this time, 'no' will not be one of them!"

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Next: Disaster! As Nebula puts their plan in motion, Roll, MegaMan, and ProtoMan fight back. However, before the battle is over, one of them will pay the ultimate price…


	16. The ultimate price

B. D. Yugi, … maybe…

Jill, we go through this every single time… No, I do not care for Yu-Gi-Oh; and I'll give you one of the absolute basic reasons why. The captions of YGO are beyond horrendous. Anyways, the Seto Kaiba idea came to me after I read LazerWulf's fic entitled "How? Why?" (I do check out the work of those who review) shameless plug. Secondly, as stated, the KaraokeMan character was created by LazerWulf and he chose the rip, I had nothing to do with it.

Oh rats, now you've given me a terrific hair joke… but the only way to do it would be to create a rip of Yugi…

S. H. fire, does this answer your question?

Azn Girl, wow, two different errors, two different sights, all in one day! (That has to be a record)Maybe I should hire you as a beta reader! Just joking, anyways, that was just a stupid mistake on my part. Fixed now.

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With a hiss of protest, the pair of solid doors slid open. The instant that they had parted, the winded form of Mr. Famous burst out of the basement and began dashing towards the upper floors of the arena.

"Punk, thank you." The scientist gasped as he rushed onward. Once KendoMan had gone DS, Famous had hurriedly summoned one of his other Navi; Punk had answered the call, and immediately overridden the door controls.

"Don't mention it, just go squash 'em for what they did to KendoMan."

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"And now for the next round!" Once again, Ribbitta shouted into her mike, drawing the attention of the crowd. "Maylu and Roll, against Tory and IceMan!"

"Here we go, Tory." Maylu called out as she located her computer's jack-in port with her fingers. "Just like the N1, we give it all we've got."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Tory replied, "Now, let's go!"

"Fine by me."

"Jack in, IceMan, Power up!"

"Jack in, Roll, Power up!"

"Here we go…" Maylu fingered a chip, as she tried to fight off that familiar feeling that something was wrong. Hesitantly she began raising it to her P.E.T., "Battle Chip-"

"Maylu! STOP!" Famous' voice cut through the air.

"Huh?" The redhead stopped her instructions just before the chip entered her P.E.T.

"What- that's Mr. Famous!" Turning to look over his shoulder, Tory also stopped the Netbattle.

"No… need… for formalities." Famous gasped as he tried to catch his breath. Having burst into the room just in time to keep Maylu from making a grave mistake, he was extremely winded.

"Famous." Lan stood up from his seat and turned to face the informant. "Alright, what's this all about?"

"Maylu, Tory, don't you dare insert a single Battle Chip into your P.E.T.s." Famous took a step down toward the Arena. "I've made a huge mistake, Nebula used the Recharge machines to turn all of your Battle Chips into Dark Chips, so had you inserted them-"

Famous stopped as Maylu dropped the Battle Chip she had been holding like it was on fire.

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"No, No, No!" Sozoji muttered as he watched the proceedings from his hidden location. "Blast it, that Famous ruined everything… All right then, it's time to take matters into my own hands. KaraokeMan."

"Right here," Called the blue Navi from his P.E.T.

"Let's put an end to this." Sozoji set up the required connection, "Jack in, KaraokeMan, Tune up!"

"This is one battle that no one's ever going to forget!" The singing Navi muttered as he entered the Network.

"Remember, I don't want that pink pest deleted." Sozoji reminded his Navi, "Instead we're going to drive her into using a Dark Chip…"

"And with these little custom chips, it'll be a snap." Stealing a glance at the two chips in his hand, the Elvis imitator grinned slightly…

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"You mean... if I had used a Chip from my folder, then I might have poisoned Roll?" Maylu couldn't believe her ears.

"Yes, I knew that Nebula was up to something like this." Famous continued to reluctantly explain; he didn't like having to spill all of his secrets. "That's why I had Chaud organize the World Tour, so that wherever Nebula sprung their plan in the world, you'd be there to stop it."

"Baloney." Spitting the word out like poison; Lan caused everyone, even the blind Maylu, to turn and look at him. "You knew about this all along, which is why you organized the World Tour: to use us as bait to draw Nebula out into the open!"

Maylu gasped as Lan's words registered in her mind. His theory made complete sense.

"I realize that you have every right to think that way," the scientist admitted, "but I can assure you that that was not my intention."

"Well, from now on, you can cross me off of your contact list." Snapped the brunette, "If I had known that MegaMan was going to be placed in this kind of danger, I'd never have agreed to this."

"Lan, please-"

"Maylu! Something's going on in here!" Roll's voice split through the air, interrupting the argument.

More concerned with her Navi than anything else, Maylu immediately forgot about the others and turned back to her P.E.T.

"Roll, what's wrong?"

"Something big's coming, I can sense it!" The pink Navi glanced around the Arena in concern.

"She's right." IceMan agreed, as he too looked around in worry. "I think we'd better get out of here!"

"And why should you?" The familiar voice of KaraokeMan rang out, seeming to come out of the empty air. "You've got a front row seat for the biggest show in history!"

With that sentence ringing through the air, the digital ground began to shudder violently as it heaved and cracked beneath Roll and IceMan's feet.

"What's going on?" The pink Navi gasped as she struggled to keep her balance.

"Give it up, people! KaraokeManSP is in the house!" As he spoke, a piece of tiling near the center of the Network exploded into a cloud of dust and debris. As the shattered flooring scattered across the ground, KaraokeMan floated out of his newly created hole, becoming visible to the stunned audience. Electrical energy was also screaming out of the hole and around the singing Navi, giving him a faintly theatrical glow.

Everyone stared at the Navi in shock for a long moment.

"Well," conceded IceMan, "you have to admit, he knows how to make an entrance."

"Now before you try," KaraokeMan folded his arms across his sub-woofer of a chest as he floated above his created cavity. "Don't even think of logging out, we've locked the gates, meaning that this is a Deletion Battle; one of us must go before the other can leave."

"That sick thing again?" Maylu couldn't believe her ears. Was every villain this… twisted?

"Yep," KaraokeMan grinned, "And I know for sure that I can't loose…"

"Hold on a second." Holding up a hand to stop the Navi's explanation, Roll posed a question. "I just noticed, you aren't talking in rhyme anymore. Any special reason?"

"Do you know how maddening it is having everything you say rhyme?" The blue Navi snapped, "I had to speak normally, or I'd have driven myself insane! I don't know how MagicMan puts up with it all the time."

"Well, one could argue that he was always crazy…" Roll broke off as she realized that she had been conversing with an arrogant, twisted Nebula agent like he was a member of their group of friends.

"Will you cut it out?" Sozoji's voice came exploding through the Network, "What is this? A convention? We're here to take her out, so let's do it already!"

"Right!"

"We've got something to say about that!" Whipping out his P.E.T., Lan readied himself to jack-in.

"You got that right." The Bomber agreed.

"Jack in, MegaMan, Power up!"

"Remember what you're doing!" Famous interrupted the brewing battle. "You're chips have been infected, you can't use them without putting your Navis into Dark Soul. And Sozoji knows that!"

"You've done enough, Famous," replied the brunette with an edge in his voice. "But thanks for the warning; we'll handle it from here."

Famous fell silent, realizing that he had done all that he could. They wouldn't listen to him now; not that he blamed them, in his haste to put a stop to this threat; he had put them in a dangerous situation. And he had violated their trust in the process…

The scientist glanced around, finding that the Officials were already clearing the audience from the room. Without a word he turned and vanished into the crowd, unintentionally forgetting to tell them that he had removed the source of the infection...

"Now that we've got a real crowd…" KaraokeMan muttered. Slowly his eyes roved over his opponents, running an analysis of each one of them. As he suspected, not one of them would pose a challenge to him, especially without their little power ups. "Let's get this party started! Sound Blast!"

"MegaMan, don't let him get that one off!"

"You got it. Mega Buster!" The cobalt warrior summoned his cannon and went to work, firing repeatedly at his opponent.

"Roll Blast!" The pink Navi blew a kiss, and then unleashed a hailstorm of hearts at her adversary.

"Cyber Blizzard!" IceMan drew a breath, and then exhaled a freezing snowstorm that rushed across the Network at his opponent.

In unison, the three attacks slammed into KaraokeMan, canceling his attack, and then passed by… without causing a scratch of damage.

"What?" Lan gasped in disbelief.

"He didn't even flinch! It didn't do any damage!" Roll called back to her sightless Op.

"Alright then, its time to play hardball." The brunette seethed.

"I hear you, let's hit him with our best shot." The redhead nodded.

"Style Change!" The two Ops announced in unison.

"Aqua Custom Style!" MegaMan announced as he received the upgrades, causing his armor to switch into an azure and ebony color scheme.

"Heat Custom Style!" Roll also equipped her new powers as her frame took on red and yellow colors.

"And since the Style Change doesn't require a Battle Chip to activate." Tory nodded his approval; "There's nothing to poison MegaMan or Roll with!"

"Heh, heh," KaraokeMan began chuckling softly, before exploding into laughter. Evidently, he saw something funny in the situation that the others didn't.

"Its time to end this!" Maylu fingered a chip and prepared to slide it home. "Double Program Advance- oh."

"We forgot…" Lan also stopped, his Spreader chip just inches away from his Personal Terminal. "We can't use any Battle Chips! And because of that, MegaMan and Roll are practically sitting ducks!"

"Bingo! You should have thought about that before you joined the concert." Trying to regain his self-control, the singing Navi slowly stopped laughing; he found the thought that they couldn't attack him laughable. "Now, let me show you how it's done! Sound Blast!"

KaraokeMan placed his mike before his mouth, and screamed into it, causing a deafening 'pop' to exploded across the Network.

Groaning, MegaMan and Roll pressed their hands over their ear-guards, as their respective Style Changes shattered. IceMan also took the hit, and staggered about for a second trying to recover.

"I don't think that shrimp's on the list…" The singing Navi glanced at IceMan, "So I think I'll just take him out… Subtitles!"

Having announced his attack, KaraokeMan lifted his mike and launched into a rendition of 'Install My Heart'. Once again, the captions appeared on his TV of a face, before exploding out of the screen and across the Network towards the Eskimo Navi.

"No, IceMan!" Roll shook off the last of the 'Sound Blast's' effects, and then leapt into action. "Roll Blast!"

The pink Navi's hearts shot through the air and into KaraokeMan's Subtitles attack. Although it visibly weakened KaroakeMan's attack, Roll's heartstorm wasn't able to cancel out the flying letters.

"My turn, Mega Buster!" The Bomber added his cannon's firepower to his ally's attack, doing his best to weaken the Subtitles.

"Cyber Blizzard!" IceMan joined in the fray.

While KaraokeMan's Subtitles were strong enough to withstand one attack, it couldn't resist three. So, working together, the three Navi were able to stop the flying alphabet in its tracks, and then cancel it out completely.

"Now, he's wide open!" Shouted Lan.

"Do it, Roll!" Maylu agreed.

"Right, Roll Arrow!" Roll summoned her bow, and then unleashed her heart-tipped arrow on her opponent.

"And the good ol' Mega Buster!" The Bomber fired off repeatedly, sending his purple-tinted blasts of plasma energy through the air.

"Time for this guy to chill, Cyber Blizzard!" IceMan added his power to the assault.

KaraokeMan just grinned as Roll's arrow, MegaMan's lasers, and IceMan's blizzard rammed into him, and exploded into clouds of smoke.

"Sometimes the old moves are the best." Giving his Buster and affectionate pat, the Blue Bomber nodded in satisfaction.

"I don't believe this," Roll kept her eyes transfixed on the flying dust that was obscuring their opponent from view, "but we didn't even dent him!"

"Say, what?" The Blue Bomber's head snapped up.

It was true, as the clouds of dust faded away; it became extremely evident that KaraokeMan hadn't even been scratched.

"Either KaraokeMan found some major upgrades lying around…" IceMan gasped in horror, "Or he's powered up with a Dark Chip!"

"You hit the wrong notes both times." Grinned the singing Navi, "But if you think that I'm going to tell you the true secret of my power, then you're crazy… now…"

"Electro Sword, Download!"

"I'll put out your lights!" KaraokeMan muttered, as a sparking blade grew out of his wrist. With a battle cry, he leapt across the Arena at Roll.

Remembering a strategy that they had developed for the Tag Team Tournament, MegaMan slipped around behind the singing Navi. He desperately hoped that Roll would read his mind and set things up for this to work…

Deciding that she'd had enough shocks for one day, Roll figured out the Bomber's plan, and launched herself backward. Her bound put her safely out of harm's way and as she landed her bow materialized on her right wrist. Quickly she snapped it up and cut loose, firing repeatedly at KaraokeMan.

"Coming at you!"

A blast of energy from MegaMan's buster slammed into KaraokeMan from behind, causing the electrical Navi to loose his balance and tumbling forward… straight into the barrage of firepower exploding out of the pink Navi's weapon.

"Oh, you think that'll stop me? Recharge!"

As KaraokeMan spoke, a blast of electrical power shot down out of the sky and rammed into the singing Navi, who closed his video eyes and drank in the power.

"The Customized Lightning Chip!" It took MegaMan a split second to recognize that move. "That's the chip that Count Zap developed to restore ElecMan's health using electricity! Man, what I wouldn't give for my Electro Sword right now…"

His power levels returned to full capacity, the singing Navi grinned wickedly before hefting his mike again. "Sound Blast!"

"AAH!"

The deafening explosion ripped through the Network, doing serious damage to the trio of Navi.

"Now, the finishing stroke," KaraokeMan muttered, "Zap Rings!"

MegaMan, Roll, and IceMan overcame the last of the Sound Blast's power, just as their opponent unleashed his firepower. They were too stunned from the Sound Blast to move as the Zap Rings barreled towards him.

"Sonic Boom!"

Three crescent-shaped blasts of energy whipped through the air and straight into the Zap Rings, destroying them completely.

"ProtoMan!" Overcoming the last of the Sound Blast's effects, MegaMan looked over to see the red Navi drop to the ground.

In the real world…

"Sorry I'm late." Chaud appeared behind Lan and Maylu.

"Chaud, you're always fashionably late." The brunette rolled his eyes, "frankly, I've come to expect it from you. Wait… you never battled here in the Arena… which means that your chips aren't infected!"

"Come again?"

"Nebula rigged it so that all of the Recharge machines would poison our Battle Chips." Explained Maylu. "So we're stuck in a deletion battle with no way of defending our Navi."

Unbeknownst to the blind Netbattler, Chaud's face went white. Not knowing that Famous had removed the source of the infection, the Official mistakenly assumed the worst.

"Before I came in here, I stopped in the lobby and recharged my chips… Mine are useless too…"

"Meaning we're still chip-less." Turning his attention back to the present match, Lan tried to figure a way out of this dilemma. "Well, we'd better find a way around that massive problem, and soon!"

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"Oh yeah, I'm feeling hot tonight!" KaraokeMan howled with laughter at the thought of what he was about to do. "AAAANNNNDDDD… FEEDBACK!"

"Oh no…" Maylu caught her breath as she remembered her past experiences with that move.

"Listen to me." Lan brushed past the completely bewildered Chaud, who had been absent from that episode, and quickly took the redhead's hand in his own. "Maylu, no matter what happens, we're here. And we always will be."

"Thanks…"

Meanwhile…

"I won't let you do that!" Roll unleashed another round of her heart hailstorms. "Roll Blast!"

The singing Navi chuckled as he sidestepped around the attack. "I'm afraid that you don't have a choice… "

With that statement hanging in the air. KaraokeMan placed his mike before his chest and cut loose, filling the stadium with the intense squeal of feedback.

Immediately, Maylu stiffened as the noise assaulted her…

"Come on, Maylu…" Lan whispered as he kept his hand in hers. "You beat this before and you can do it again…"

"What's happening?" Chaud watched as Maylu's eyes closed in obvious pain…

"I wish I knew," The brunette replied uneasily, "For some reason this Feedback Attack affects Maylu in an unknown way- a bad way."

Maylu shook her head as the noise exploded across her mind, driving away the outside world… she was lost, alone, she had no way of communicating with those around her. She couldn't hear them, couldn't tell where they were, or what was going on around her…

She wasn't sure where it came from, but a horrible idea presented itself in her mind: if she used one of her Dark Chips, she could stop the pain…

But she couldn't! If she used any of her chips then Roll would be plunged into Dark Soul. And she couldn't do that to her best friend, she wouldn't!

As much as she willed the urge away, Maylu found her panic at being cut off from everyone rising. She had lost all form of communication to those around her, her link to the world was gone… she didn't want to be alone like this! She needed to hear again, to know that they were still there!

"No, no!" To her horror, Maylu realized that she couldn't herself screaming… she was truly alone… "Lan, Chaud, help me!"

In obvious concern, Lan and Chaud were bending over the sobbing, shouting Maylu, and they were doing their best to help her overcome the ordeal.

"What's she doing?" The brunette watched as her hand inched towards her folder. "Wait… she can't! Maylu, you can't use that!"

"Maylu, snap out of it!" Chaud practically screamed into her ear; "You can beat this! We're right here! MAYLU!"

Inside of the Network, the three Navi watched from their P.E.T. screens. After it became evident that the singing Navi was targeting Maylu, and not them, they had immediately put their focus on helping her in any way possible.

Roll's eyes widened in fear as she saw her Operator reach for one of her poisoned chips before drawing back… Could it really be that bad for her? That Maylu would use one of those chips to escape?

"She can't…" MegaMan also saw the horrible event.

"MegaMan, ProtoMan…" Roll closed her eyes as she spoke. "If she… if Maylu does use one of those things… wait until I defeat KaraokeMan… and then delete me as fast as you can. I don't want to live as a Darkloid."

"Roll, look at me." The Bomber spoke solemnly, "Maylu won't use them. Lan won't let her."

"I hope not… but if that's what it takes for her to escape that torture… I'll do it."

"We won't let that happen." ProtoMan replied, "Now, let's put a stop to this nonsense."

"Right, Mega Buster!"

"Sonic Boom!"

Roll watched as the attacks bounced off of KaraokeMan without causing a shred of damage…

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"Make it stop!" Maylu shouted at the chaos engulfing her. Again that idea came to her mind… All she had to do was… NO! She wouldn't!

But her self-control was fading, and although she commanded her hand not to, it continued to reach out and pluck the Dark Sword chip…

"Lan, Chaud!" The redhead screamed silently, "Don't let me do it!"

But she couldn't control herself…

"NO!" She started to slide the chip into her P.E.T.

Put to her relief, she felt a hand slap against hers, causing the Dark Chip to go flying away.

Maylu breathed a sigh of thanks to whoever had saved her…

Unknown to her, Chaud had ripped the folder from Maylu's hands and flung it away, scattering its contents across the arena.

"Maylu, get a grip on yourself!" The bi-colored haired teen shouted as he shook her firmly. He had to get that Feedback to stop somehow! Whatever it was doing to her, it was downright sick. "You can't!"

"Chaud!" ProtoMan's urgent voice came from his Terminal, causing the Op to pause and look into his P.E.T.

A frightening sight greeted him. MegaMan was lying wounded on the ground, just barely conscious, while KaraokeMan was holding Roll above his head, obviously preparing to finish her off. ProtoMan's attempts to help her were hampered by his lack of chips, and KaraokeMan's ability to brush off his attacks via the Lightning Chip.

"Chaud, there's no other way. Do it." The Raider's voice was emotionless.

"You can't be serious!" The teen stared into his Terminal. "I'm not putting you into Dark Soul!"

"If you don't then Roll's as good as gone." The Raider slashed with his blade, unleashing another useless Sonic Boom attack on KaraokeMan in an effort to buy them some time. "Chaud, for her sake, and Maylu's, DO IT!"

"ProtoMan, I-" The Official's voice cracked in unspoken emotion. He had to stop this Feedback and free Maylu… but at this price? Destroying ProtoMan's 'soul'?

"Chaud…"

The Official caught his breath as he realized that he had no choice, slowly he reached for a Battle Chip. "ProtoMan, I'm sorry."

"DO IT, LAN! NOW!"

Chaud's eyes widened as he spun around to see Lan holding a Chip above his P.E.T. "LAN, NO!"

The brunette ignored his companion. Closed his eyes, the Op slid the deadly Battle Chip home.

"Forgive me…"

"There's nothing to forgive Lan, I made you do- this- AAAHHH!" The Bomber gasped as the Dark Powers began to flood his systems, the familiar sickeningly sweet energy began to flow into him as the Dark Sword appeared about his wrist.

"MegaMan!" Roll watched in horror as KaraokeMan dangled her in the air. Already a think black mist had surrounded her friend. What was he thinking? He couldn't sacrifice himself for her!

But that was exactly what he was doing…

"YAAHH!" Overwhelmed by the deadly power, MegaMan was forced into a wild frenzy. The corrupted Bomber went racing across the Network with his sword raised and ready to strike.

KaraokeMan dropped his captive in shock, his Feedback to grinding to a halt. This wasn't supposed to happen! The amount of Dark Energy in those chips should have been enough to put any Navi under his control in a matter of seconds! But this guy…! What was going on?

"DARK SWORD SLASH!" The deranged Bomber raced in, and sent his sword slamming against his opponent, channeling all of his power into the attack. Driven on by the Dark Powers, he repeatedly slashed his sword across the electrical Navi, showing ruthlessness in his attack that was foreign to all that knew him…

KaraokeMan had time to gasp once before he shattered in a burst of pixilated Data. Whether he had logged out, or been deleted, no one could tell, and they didn't really care at the moment.

"I don't believe it…" Tory gasped as he watched the events through his P.E.T.

As the piercing squeal fell silent, Maylu's senses cleared, and shook her head woozily in an effort to speed the process. "What happened?"

"MegaMan, I- he-"

"Lan used a Dark Chip." Chaud muttered, causing Maylu to gasp in horror.

Back in the Network, Roll was currently rushing over towards the poisoned Navi. Maybe there was something she could do to slow the advancing infection… Quickly she reached the Bomber and held her hands out to him. Maybe her healing powers could stop this…

"No, Roll, stay back!" The Bomber lashed out with his weaponless hand, knocking the pink Navi away from him. "Get back! I can't- I can't hold him- back!"

As Roll hit the ground, her eyes widened in horror at the sight before her.

The black mist was vanishing away, revealing MegaMan. But it wasn't the MegaMan she knew, his usually gently eyes were now sharp and piercing, and covered in a red tint. His entire attitude was one of checked arrogance now.

"Hey, sugar." The Blue Navi smirked, causing Roll to gasp. MegaMan never addressed her like that…

"Mega-" The pink Navi's voice cracked on the word, she couldn't believe that this was happening…

Before anyone could react, the form of KendoMan DS appeared in the Network next to the Dark Bomber.

"MegaMan… MegaMan DS, come with me." The dark swordsman spoke, "Its time to go."

"Right." MegaMan DS nodded.

"Hold it right there." Before the two could log out, ProtoMan materialized directly behind KendoMan DS, with his sword raised. "Nobody's going anywhere, least of all MegaMan."

"Attacking from behind, eh?" KendoMan smirked. "What a low move, especially from you."

"You should talk." The Raider kept his blade ready to strike.

"Unfortunately, you seem to have forgotten… about my Dark Aura!"

As the Dark Swordsman spoke, a blast of intense Dark Energy appeared around him and MegaMan, shielding them from anyone's attack. In vain, ProtoMan drove his weapon into the barrier, only to have it shatter before his visored eyes.

"Now, MegaMan, let's go."

"It'll be a pleasure." MegaMan DS nodded, "I look forward to assisting Nebula-"

"NO! MegaMan, you can't!" Lan screamed into his P.E.T. in helpless frustration, "Remember who you are-!"

"You!?" The Dark Bomber snapped around to look at his former Op, "How can you tell me what to do? Have you already forgotten what you've done to me? You destroyed me! Can't you see that? Well? Just look at me! Look at what you've done to me!"

Even though he knew that it wasn't the real MegaMan speaking, those words hit Lan, cutting deeply into his raw emotions.

"Forget it, find some other Navi to save your skin on a constant basis."

"Let's go." The smirk was evident in KendoMan's voice.

_**KendoMan, Logging Out.**_

_**  
MegaMan, Logging Out.**_

The two Navis vanished in a burst of pixels, leaving the others behind.

"No, why'd he do it?" Roll could feel the moisture burning in the back of her eyes. "Why? I should have been the one to- WHY?"

ProtoMan didn't have any answers to offer to that question.

Outside in the real world, Chaud glanced over to check up on Lan, it as plain to see that the Op was fighting his own tears, and loosing the battle.

"Lan, I-"

"Not now! Just... not now!" The brunette shouted. Completely overwhelmed and shamed by what he had done, the Op spun on his heel and fled up the aisle out of the arena… leaving his empty P.E.T. behind.

As the sounds of Lan's footsteps pounded away, Maylu lost the last of her self-control. She couldn't keep from thinking that if she hadn't fallen for the Feedback's power, all of this might not have happened.

"This is all my fault…"

Chaud looked over to see the blind Maylu shaking slightly from some unknown emotion; tears were brimming herbrown eyes.

"If I had fought harder… then… then maybe Lan wouldn't have had to do that…" The redhead was visibly trying to keep from crying, and not succeeding.

The Official didn't blame her, although he rarely showed his emotion, he too was shocked by what had just happened. "Maylu, it's not your fault."

"But, Chaud, I… I just about did that!" Maylu's face dropped towards the ground, she was too ashamed to 'look' anywhere else... "I almost put Roll into Dark Soul… I couldn't stop myself, and MegaMan had to…"

"We'll get through this…" The double-haired kid reached out and laid a hand on his friend's shoulder, "I promise you that. And I promise that I will get MegaMan back…"

"I, I-" Maylu's voice cracked, stopping her from continuing as the tears broke loose and began to flood down her face. "Sorry-"

"Don't be, there was nothing you could do." Chaud did his best to comfort the distressed girl.

10101010101010101010101010101

From deep within the Arena's Network, the solitary cloaked figure of Bass stood, processing the events that he had just witnessed.

"This is an occurrence I had not foreseen."

With that sentence hanging in the air, Bass vanished into the Internet…

101010101010101010101010101010

Next: To trap a MegaMan… with a Blue Eyes White Dragon?


	17. Mistakes

I've been obsessing over this chapter for so long that its not funny. And seeing as how I've rewritten it no less than six times, I've finally called it quits and am publishing it as is. -Sigh- I'm hopeless as a romance writer, I don't even know why I try anymore.

Anyways, this chapter contains my final rip for this fic. Cookie goes to whoever can tell me where Bobby came from. (Hint: Not a YGO rip)

Axn Girl, whoops, majorly stupid mistake on my part, I got Roll and Maylu mixed up. See previous chapter.

A. F. O. MegaMan, not in the way you're thinking.

B. D. Yugi, well, I didn't break him out of SciLab for no reason.

C. S. Omega, -watches you hit repaired body double-I take it you don't like?

**Official HQ: Sharrian branch.**

"Oh, come on Otis." A blond man spoke with a heavy accent was infecting his voice. "So you got beat once, it's not the end of the world."

"Get." The aforementioned brunette muttered as he refused to look at his companion, and kept his gaze trained on the computer screen in front of him. In his mind, Bobby was one of the most annoying people of the face of the earth… and if he didn't get away from his desk in the next four seconds, Otis was liable to wipe the floor with him.

"What am I? Your dog?" Bobby made a face, "The least you could do is actually acknowledge my presence when you insult me."

Otis shot his unwanted companion a look that clearly said, "Get lost, or else your life will come to an early end".

"I can take a hint, but you might want to beware of the coffee tomorrow." The blond called over his shoulder as he trudged away from the angered officer. "I might just be so upset at your insult that I'd mistake the sugar for Arsenic."

The brunette didn't even reply. The news report that had suddenly appeared on his monitor had suddenly seized his attention.

Otis read through it once, and then a second time just to be sure. On his third time through, a very slight, almost nonexistent, grin appeared on his face. This was just the kind opportunity he could take advantage of…

"DracoMan, inform the Chief that we'll be taking a leave of absence for the next two weeks and don't take no for an answer." The Officer stood, and picked up his P.E.T., "We've got some unfinished business to attend to."

"Yes, sir."

With those instructions given, Otis stepped away from his desk and strode out the door leaving the complex behind. No sooner had he left, than Bobby came back into the room.

As the blond strode through the room, he chanced to glance at Otis' empty workstation, and what he saw caused him to stop dead in his tracks. There, on Otis' computer monitor, was the report of MegaMan's Dark Soul infection, and the warning that he was now under the control of Nebula.

Now, Bobby wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he knew enough to put two and two together. Knowing that Otis had recently lost to Lan and MegaMan, and that he was not the type to take defeat well, plus the fact that Otis now knew that his former opponent had gone Dark Soul added up to one solution: Revenge.

Ordinarily, he'd have kept out of something like this, but he had never really like Otis anyway, and he knew that Laika was 'unofficially' friends with Lan, so he decided that there was only one thing to do. Inform Laika immediately.

The blond rushed away from the workstation and down the hallway to the office of his semi-good friend Laika.

"Knock, knock." The blond man strode right into the room without stopping.

Laika immediately looked up from his work, and glared at the newcomer. "Don't you ever knock?"

"I did." Bobby grinned back, laying on his accent heavily.

Laika was obviously groaning silently.

"And you can stop with the fake accent." The Sharrian Op folded his arms across his chest.

"Oh, come on now, I picked this thing up in the Outback." The blond shrugged maintaining his speech pattern, "You can't expect me to drop an accent just like that."

"You were only in Australia for a week, for a course in computer hacking."

"True, but I roughed it the entire time."

"It was a hotel."

"Yeah, but the room service was terrible, no doughnuts on the free breakfast, and they forget the mint on my pillow, in my mind that's downright barbaric."

Laika was visibly straining to keep his cool. Having his full of this discussion, he changed the subject.

"So did you come in here for a reason, or just to pester me?"

"Its about Otis." Bobby cut to the chase. "He knows that MegaMan just went DS. And I'm betting that he's going to go out for some payback."

Without a word, the Sharrian sat back down at his desk and proceeded to start keying commands into his computer.

"Thanks for wasting my time."

"But- aren't you going to do something? I mean, we can't just let Otis go out there and-"

"This discussion is closed." Laika shot the blond a very withering look. "Leave. Now."

"Alright, alright…"

The second that Bobby had left the office, Laika dropped his work and picked up his P.E.T. The next moment he was composing an e-mail… to a fairly good friend of his.

10101010101010101010101010101010

With an exhausted sigh, Lan trudged up the last of the steps to the jet. He'd spent the entire night alone, too overwhelmed by his actions to face his friends, but now he was exhausted. And he had no place else to go but back to the Blaze jet.

He didn't really look forward to facing Maylu of Chaud, especially Chaud…

Inside the lounge of the plane, unaware of his brown-haired companion's whereabouts, Chaud prepared himself for the coming talk with Maylu. He hated to bring up a subject like this at the present time, but he didn't have a choice.

Gathering his nerve, the double-haired boy turned to the blind Maylu. It was now or never.

"Maylu, I have a question to ask you."

With another sigh of regret, Lan keyed in his access code to open the door of the plane. A split second later, the system had recognized the password and opened the doors for him.

The brunette entered the plane, and began the long walk that would take him through the kitchen, lounge, and hallway to his bunk. He desperately hoped that no one would come across his path. But then again, he was too exhausted to really care right now.

"What's that?" The redheaded girl turned in his general direction.

"I hate to bring this up, after all that's happened… but I can't delay this any longer. I know that my father hates what I'm doing, but I'm going to go through with it anyway."

"Why would he?" Maylu interrupted her companion.

"Because he's a heartless, cynic." Chaud spat the words out before he could stop himself; he wasn't on the greatest of terms with his dad. "He hasn't cared about me since… never mind. Maylu, I-"

For once in his life, Lan had absolutely no temptation to stop and raid the fridge as he trudged through the kitchen.

"But… Chaud…" Maylu wasn't fighting to keep herself in check. She'd never guessed that the Official had cared this much for her… it was almost too good to be true. "Why would you go against your dad's wishes?"

"Because… because I get the feeling that my mother would approve." The Official closed his eyes, trying to avoid the memory surfacing in his mind. "Even if HE doesn't."

"Your mother? I don't think we've met…"

"She- she's dead." A solitary tear slipped away from the boy's closed eyes, dripping down his face.

"I'm sorry."

"She died, of HBD." Chaud finally felt safe enough to open his eyes without fear of crying.

A small sound caught Lan's attention as he prepared to enter the lounge.

"But I know she'd like you, and that she'd approve of this." Chaud shook off his painful past. Hiding his raw emotions behind his mask of smug unconcern, his voice became careful and controlled. "So, do I have your answer?"

"Don't try to hide from me." Maylu chided her companion, "I can see right through you."

For a long moment, all was still as the two sat in silence. The redheaded girl was struggling to make up her mind over this matter. Was it worth putting more tension between Chaud and his father? If she went through with this, there was a very real possibility that she'd get caught in the middle.

But then again, Chaud had gone to great lengths for her. And just the thoughts that he'd care enough to do this…

Finally, Maylu's hidden desire won out over her cold logic.

"Chaud, of course I will!"

Lan opened up the doorway to the lounge, and stopped in his tracks as he took inthe scene before him.

Maylu and Chaud were in the lounge… and the redheaded girl had her arms wrapped around the visibly embarrassed double-haired boy.

The brunette stared for what seemed like eons, desperately hoping that this wasn't real, that he was just so tired that he was hallucinating. But it wasn't so; this was all very real…

"Lan!" Chaud's face went white as he hurriedly freed himself. "We were worried about you!"

"Yeah, sure." Too emotionally exhausted to deal with the scene before him, the brunette stormed past the couple. "Don't let me interrupt."

"Lan, wait!" The sightless Maylu called after him; of course Lan would show up at the worst possible moment… "This isn't what it looks like!"

No answer came in reply, just the sounds of Lan's retreating footsteps.

"Wait!" The redhead shouted again, "Lan, let me explain!"

No direct reply came, instead the sounds of a metal door slamming shut echoed through the hallway, signaling that the brunette had no desire to talk about it.

Before anyone could react, Chaud's P.E.T. beeped, alerting him to an incoming E-mail.

Leaving Maylu to herself, the Official retrieved his terminal, and then scanned over the entry.

"That was Raoul, Famous just contacted him saying that KendoMan and MegaMan have been spotted heading for YumLand's Netspace. If we want to catch up to them there, we'd better leave now."

"You go do that," Too preoccupied with her troubles to fully comprehend that statement, Maylu nodded in reply. "I'll go talk to Lan."

With deliberate steps, the blind girl began the all too short walk to Lan's cabin. This was one job she did not look forward to.

1010101010101010101010

Next: Ambush!


	18. Random scenes to move the plot

All right… no one got where Bobby came from. So I guess I'll give the cookie to LazerWulf for at least trying. Anyways, Bobby was ripped from my personal favorite show: Sue Thomas F. B. Eye, a brilliant Christian drama about a deaf woman who works in the FBI.

Enough of that, once this little romance escapade is finished, the next few chapters will be entirely devoted to resolving the MegaMan DS issue. And hopefully, they'll be better than the last few.

10101010101010101010101010101

"Lan, you open this door right now!" Maylu pounded her fist against the unyielding surface. "We've got to talk!"

Silence, no reply came from the room.

In frustration, the redhead raised her hand, and slammed it against the door. A loud bang echoed through the hallway as her hand met the metal. Again, she hit the doorway to no avail, Lan wouldn't respond.

"So help me, if you don't open that door!"

More silence.

Maylu felt her anger building. True, she had overreacted when Chaud had broken the news to her, but given the circumstances, wouldn't anyone? If Lan would just give her the time of day, she could straighten out this entire mess, and then straighten him out some.

"Last warning!"

Same old silence.

With a groan of annoyance, Maylu reached up and unfastened the Sakurai Crest hair clip, with practiced precision she bent out the pin so that it was extended from the flat disk. Then, satisfied with her tool, she used her left hand to feel out the doorknob. Once she had located the knob, she shoved the pin into the keyhole.

A few twists of the pin later, the redhead girl heard the lock give a barely audible click.

Smiling in success, the blind redhead removed the clip, and then placed her free hand on the doorway.

Then she shoved, hard.

The door went flying open, crashing against the adjacent wall and announcing her entrance.

"What- how did you get in here?" A welcome greeting from Lan's voice flooded the room.

"Look, I have a lot of free time on my hands, O.K.?" The redhead sighed as she replaced her hair accessory. "So let's just say that I've picked up a few miscellaneous skills. But that's beside the point, Lan, about what you saw-"

"What about it?" The brunette's voice came through the air, and he wasn't making any effort to hide the bitterness infecting it. "If you and Chaud want to be a couple, go right ahead. I've lost MegaMan, so I might as well loose you too."

Maylu bit her lip; she was so frustrated that she felt like punching a wall, or maybe a certain brown-haired kid. But seeing as how she wasn't ready for that kind of stunt, she did the next best thing. It was extremely radical, but it never failed.

She felt her way over to the chair, and plunked herself down in it.

"Alright, listen up, Chaud and I are not a couple, nor where we discussing anything like that."

"Sure." Lan's voice was tense. "I bet you were just making dinner plans for the evening."

"Lan, Chaud's- I'm going to level with you. Blaze Quest has developed an experimental surgery… one that could restore my sight."

Silence, evidently the brunette had been stunned into listening.

"And Chaud's asked me if I would be willing to undergo it. So that's why I was hugging him, I… I was just overjoyed at the thought of getting my sight back."

"You- you aren't lying to me?"

"No, I'm not. This is the truth." Maylu spoke honestly.

"Wait a minute, Chaud's company is in the game making business. They don't do medical work." Lan pointed out that minor discrepancy.

"Blaze Quest Games does the game work. But Chaud runs a separate company, Blaze Medical, they specialize in developing new treatments."

"I've never heard of it."

Maylu sighed silently; sometimes Lan could be so dense… "Chaud created Blaze Medical to stay under the radar. He didn't want the reporters digging into it-"

"Uh huh, that sounds real nice."

"Because it was created in honor of his mother."

"His mother? What's she got to do with this?"

"His mother died when he was young." Maylu skipped over her own ideas about Chaud's handling of that situation. "He lost her to HBD-"

Maylu's words were cut off as Lan made a shocked interjection.

"HBD!" The Op's voice was filled with disbelief.

"Um, yes..." The redhead uneasily replied, "Why's that surprise you?"

"I don't really want to talk about it... as you were saying?"

Bewildered over Lan's words, Maylu realized that she didn't have a choice but to continue her explination. "Uh, that's why he started Blaze Medical, to find a cure for the disease, but now it's branched out into many different areas of pharmaceutical work. And he doesn't want it turning into a media circus because of that fact."

"Oh… and you're actually going through with this? Taking an experimental surgery?" Lan expressed his doubt over the idea of his loved friend becoming a guinea pig.

"Its already been tested." The redheaded girl replied, "And it's worked in about 75 percent of the people who tried it. You see; I lost my sight because the nerves connecting my optical areas to my eyes were damaged. This surgery fixes that… by artificial means."

"You mean, you'd be walking around with bits of metal in your head."

"You know, you have a way of making this sound so crude. It's not like that, it's actually a fake nerve that's being developed..."

"I see." Lan's weary voice came through the room. "I see… no offense… alright, if you're willing to try this, then you've got my support. Maylu, I may act like a jerk at times, but I'll always be there for you."

"Thanks, Lan, that means a lot to me." The redheaded girl stood up. "And Raoul just called, MegaMan's been spotted heading for YumLand, Chaud's working on getting us set up to fly there. Hang in there, we'll get him back before too much longer."

101010101010101010101010101010

"He thinks himself so powerful…" Bass watched the Net Navi creeping around the YumLand Network. Ordinarily, he'd have ignored such a pitifully small fry, but this Navi might have an effect on his plans.

The Navi was DracoMan.

"Pathetic." The Solo Navi thought to himself. Shifting his position slightly to get a better view, the UnderNet champion studied the brown Navi. It was obvious that DracoMan was training, and training hard. The Navi was challenging viruses left and right, fencing against them with a long blade, and then stopping every so often to form a white dragon-like virus to blow others away.

"Yet he does have an interesting ability…" The thoughts ran through Bass' mind at a fast clip. From his observations, Bass had seen that DracoMan was capable of creating one powerful customized virus, but the ability didn't appeal to him in the least, Bass had his own style, and that style served him well.

For the moment, the cloaked Navi consoled himself to wait. First he'd see if this pathetic Navi could influence his plans at all, and then he'd make his move.

Unaware that he was being watched, DracoMan continued to practice his skills. He had already failed his master once, and he would not allow that to happen again. As a warrior, it was his duty to fight for his master's honor. In his previous match, he had tarnished that honor. Now he would reclaim his dignity, and the nobleness of his Operator's name.

"Now, DracoMan." The Navi felt his operator restore the connection with his P.E.T. Which could only mean one thing… "I want this to be perfect."

"Yes sir." The dragon Navi tried to get into perfect sync with his Operator.

"Poison Mask, Poison Face, Anubis, Battle Chips in, Download. "

"Program Advance!"

**YumLand International Airport.**

"It's an E-mail from Laika." Lan announced as he skimmed over his terminal's screen.

"Well? What's he say?" Maylu wanted to know as she disembarked from the aircraft, and onto YumLand soil.

"He says that Otis is after MegaMan too." The brunette's voice was hard. "He won't hesitate to delete MegaMan if he finds him... And I'm not going to let that happen."

Chaud also stepped off of the Blaze jet while turning over this new development in his mind. He'd heard that Otis could be ruthless, but he'd never expected this.

"Don't worry, Lan. We'll get him back, as long as we have these Vaccine Chips then it'll be easy." Maylu voiced her opinion.

"I don't know, they've never worked in the past." The brunette shrugged in disbelief. The day a Vaccine Chip worked would be the day the Network stood still.

Before the girl could reply, a shrill siren cut through the air, stopping all form of conversation.

"What is it?" Maylu shouted over the noise, whatever it was, it didn't sound good at all.

"If I had to guess," Chaud screamed over the blaring horn, "I'd say that we won't have to go looking for MegaMan, he's coming to us!"

"Chaud, I'm receiving an E-mail." ProtoMan cranked his P.E.T.'s volume to the max in an effort to be heard over the ruckus. "It's from KendoMan… he says that he and MegaMan have taken over the mainframe of the airport… And that they're refusing to allow any aircraft into or out of the complex until we wire one million Zenny over into the a Nebular bank account."

"They're holding the airport hostage?" Maylu couldn't believe her ears; she'd never suspected that the two Dark Navi would stoop this low.

"We've got to stop them." The Official barked, taking command of the situation. "There's no way that the governments will give into that kind of demand, so we'll have to take them out."

"Just tell me where to Jack-in." The blind girl agreed.

Lan glanced about, and finally spotted a small terminal, half hidden behind a display of shrubbery. With a brief explanation, he grabbed up Maylu's hand and guided her over to the spot with Chaud trailing after them.

After Maylu had felt out the connection, she raised her terminal and checked to see it Roll was ready. Once she had received an affirmative reply she launched into her familiar sequence.

"Jack in, Roll, Power Up!"

"Jack in, ProtoMan, Power Up!"

"Hang in there, Mega." Roll whipped across space towards the Network. "We'll get you back… just hold on…"

1010101010101010101010101010

Lousy place to stop, I know, but the next battle is going to be insane, and I didn't want the chapter to get too long.

Yep, I dodged the romance issue once again. Before this fic is over, Maylu will choose either Lan or Chaud, but not yet… And only I know who it is!

Next: Chaos Battle!


	19. A punk Roll

A. N.'s: O.K., I made not one, but two of my famously huge mistakes in that chapter. Because I received some bad information, and didn't bother to double check it, I had DracoMan use a Dark Program Advance in that last chapter. Well, we can't have that can we? So I went back and changed it to the light version of that Advance.

And Lan now has a reaction to the HBD issue. Sorry, to all.

* * *

"Foolish Navi…" 

Roll tensed as she heard that sickeningly familiar voice drift through the air, it was the grating voice of KendoMan DS. By her side, ProtoMan formed his sword and raised it to his face, evidently remembering his previous fight with the Dark Navi.

"Do you really think that you can defeat us?" KendoMan appeared a few short feet away, along with MegaMan DS.

The pink Navi gasped as she caught sight of her friend; it was evident that Nebula had completely fused MegaMan with his Dark Soul, as his entire appearance had changed. MegaMan's frame was now more muscular, and his blue tones were much darker. The tapered parts of his boots now had small spikes jutting out at various angles, as did his dark blue gloves. The knuckles on his gloves were tipped with steel and spines. And the two light blue lines on his helmet were now razor sharp.

"What have they done to you?"

"Nebula has taught me true power." The Dark Bomber folded his arms across his chest, "And in return, I am glad to serve them."

"MEGAMAN!"

"Quiet, human!" The dark blue Navi snapped in response to his former Op's outburst. "You disowned me when you inserted that Dark Chip, you knew what it would do to me, yet you did anyway. What kind of Operator are you!"

"You know that's not the truth." Roll took a step forward, causing MegaMan DS to form his Buster. "You told Lan to insert that chip to save me. And while your dark side may not want to admit it, the real MegaMan knows that… The MegaMan that we want to come back…"

"Enough talk." The Dark Bomber leveled his weapon at the pink Navi. "I know well and good what happened, now, either fight me, or get out of here!"

"KendoMan's ours." Chaud's voice exploded through the Network; "We owe him one for the last battle."

"FINE!" MegaMan DS snapped, "I'll destroy that pink pest myself! Dark Buster!"

Roll gaped as her former friend fired at her. Not so much in shock at being attacked, but because of the size of the Bomber's attack. Unlike in the past, the energy exploding out of MegaMan's cannon was massive; at least five times the size of his normal shots.

"Roll, move!"

Snapping out of her daze, the pink wonder tossed herself to her left, just as the blast of firepower whipped through the spot she had just vacated. Without breaking her momentum, the pink Navi tumbled out of her leap and was instantly shooting back into the air.

At the apex of her leap, Roll suddenly blew a kiss, forming a small pink heart. The next second she had plucked the heart out of the air and sent her arm whipping around in front of her, causing a hailstorm of pink heart-shaped lasers to flood the sky and rain down on her opponent. "Roll Blast!"

"Huh, pitiful..." The Dark Bomber leapt upward, easily vaulting over the heart attack. The next second he had his Buster pointed at Roll, and was cutting loose with intense rounds of Dark Rapid Fire.

"Shadow, Battle Chip in, Download!" Maylu sent a card whizzing into her Terminal.

The chip's properties took effect, and dimmed out Roll's frame as she began plunging to the ground below. The move allowed the attacks to race through her without causing a shred of damage.

The second the pink Navi hit the ground, she had her bow formed about her right wrist.

"MegaMan, remember who you are!" Roll shouted as she lined up her weapon to fire. "I know you're in there somewhere! MegaMan!"

A smirk appearing on MegaMan DS's face, the Navi hit the ground as a sharp purple blade exploded out of his Buster's barrel. Before Roll could react, the Dark Bomber was directly in front of her, his blade coming down…

"I hate to break it to you, but MegaMan's gone, sugar."

10101010101010101010101010101010

"HIA!"

The two blades met and retreated as the two battlers leapt backward, putting some distance between them.

ProtoMan hit the ground, his sword already cutting through space and unleashing a crescent of energy on his opponent. "Sonic Boom!"

The purple attack shot through the air, KendoMan slipped to one side, allowing the beam to snip past his shoulder. Instantly the dark Navi was on the move, racing in towards his opponent with sword upraised.

The Raider vaulted away, avoiding the thrust of KendoMan's attack. Once he had enough distance, the red Navi spun around in place, unleashing another Sonic Boom attack. His shot ripped through the air, but again failed as KendoMan slipped away.

"That's it, don't fight a pitched battle." Chaud nodded his approval to his Navi. "Keep KendoMan off guard and moving… we can do this. Now, Long Sword, Battle Chip in, Download! And Delta Ray Edge, Battle Chip in, Download!"

One second, a red hilt had appeared around the Raider's wrist as a blue tinted blade sprang to life from the hilt. The next, a blurred red triangle appeared around KendoMan as ProtoMan teleported directly in front of the DS Navi and then raced around him slashing repeatedly. Once the maneuver was finished, the Red Raider used the chip's power to 'blink' back to his starting point.

ProtoMan kept his blade raised as he focused on his opponent.

KendoMan merely smirked; his defensive barrier had effectively saved him from the attack.

"Blast, that Dark Aura."

"He blocked our attack, true, but we did manage to weaken it slightly." Chaud noticed a lessening in the barrier's intensity. "Good work."

"Nice try, but let me show you true power!" KendoMan snapped as he lunged across the Network. His frame became nothing more than a red blur as he shot across space, sword ready to swing, at his opponent.

"Now! Elec. Blade, Battle Chip in, Download!"

ProtoMan held onto his Long Sword, as a silver sword trimmed in a sparking blue glow appeared about his left wrist. The Raider crossed his blades across his chest, tensing in anticipation of the Dark Navi's arrival.

The two swordsmen met in a shower of sparks. Then KendoMan continued his charge past his rival.

ProtoMan turned slightly so that he could see his opponent out of the corner of his eye.

"Not bad, you deflected my attack." The fencing master's voice was filled with venomous approval. "But failed to harm me again. When will you learn that my Dark Aura can't be defeated?"

* * *

"AAHH!" 

"Roll!" Maylu screamed into her Terminal. She wasn't sure just what had happened, but from the sounds of that, it couldn't be good.

"I'm… fine…" The pink Navi gasped as she cradled her wounded arm with her left hand. MegaMan DS's blade had just barely missed her torso, and instead ripped into her right arm. Now she was fighting a DS Navi with a serious handicap, not the best position in the world to be in.

"Hm, I wonder what your old MegaMan would say about this?" The Dark Bomber studied his handiwork, a satisfied grin appearing on his face. "Admit it, sugar, you can't beat us, so why not join us?"

The pink Navi's head snapped up, determination was filling her eyes. "Don't call me sugar. And I'll never give into Nebula. MegaMan, I know you're in there somewhere, somewhere inside of that monster. You can beat him! MegaMan, you're the strongest Net Navi the world has ever known, are you going to let one little chip destroy you like this? You can stop him, I know it, MegaMan!"

"You finished?" The Dark Navi folded his arm and sword over his chest to show his annoyance. "Face it, your MegaMan's gone. I'm the new MegaMan now."

"No, you're just some cheap chip with his frame. You're not MegaMan, the real MegaMan still exists, and he's going to overthrow you!"

"Dream on, sugar." The Dark Bomber unfolded his arms, "Last chance, join us or get deleted."

"Never." Roll set her jaw, and prepared for the inevitable. But if she was going out, she was going out fighting, without hesitation she formed her Bow…

"See you." MegaMan DS raised his blade for the final strike.

"ROLL, NO!"

"MEGAMAN! Cut it out! That' s Roll, you can't do this!" Lan screamed frantically into his P.E.T.

"Just for that, its Deletion City for her." A wicked gleam appeared in the Dark Navi's eyes as he began to drop his blade.

"I don't think so, Roll Arrow!" The pink wonder's arms hot up, bringing her weapon to bear on the Dark Navi. With a look of regret, she 'pulled the trigger', sending her arrow into MegaMan DS with full force. Her shot hit home, and under its tremendous force, the Bomber was hurled backward through the Network for five full seconds before he hit the ground with a sickening thud.

"Uh…" Roll's strength gave out, as her wound continued draining her energy away. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up as she crashed to her hands and knees…

A sharp cry drew the pink Navi's attention, and she snapped her head up to see ProtoMan crash to the ground as he took a critical hit from his opponent. Before she could react to his distress, she felt two rough hands grabbing her from behind, and the next instant she was flying through the air.

"There, KendoMan," MegaMan DS dusted his hands off from tossing his adversary through the air. And he gave a satisfied smile as he watched Roll crash to the ground next to her ally. "Finish this up."

"With pleasure…" The Dark Fencing Master replied as he moved to tower over the two downed opponents. "Which one should I take out first?"

"Ah, get rid of the pink one."

"Fine by me." KendoMan DS raised his blade, preparing to delete Roll once and for all…

"NO!" Maylu rifled through her folder, desperately trying to find something to help. "Roll, I can't loose you!"

"Maylu, I'm sorry." The pink Navi's head dropped as she closed her eyes and waited for her life to end. "I wasn't strong enough…"

KendoMan brought his sword down…

He never finished the strike.

What Roll could only describe as a spiked red Frisbee came flying through the air, and collided solidly with KendoMan. The force of impact knocked the swordsman backward, and made him miss his intended victim.

"What was that?" The pink Navi wondered as she struggled to her feet, still cradling her injured arm.

"I know that move." ProtoMan muttered, as he too stood upright. "That belongs to Punk!"

"Punk?"

"One of Famous' many Navi." Chaud explained for both Maylu and Roll's benefit.

"But if Punk's here, that means Famous is too!" Lan's eyes narrowed as he thought about the scientist. "We don't need his help, he's already done enough!"

"So we screwed up," Punk, a spindly Navi with red spiked boots, chest armor, and titanic circular shoulder pads, stepped into view as he addressed Lan's comment. "But we're gonna put things right. We owe you kids that much."

The brunette bit his lip, apparently holding back an angry outburst. It was plain to everyone that he still hadn't forgiven Famous for deceiving them.

"Now then," Punk joined his allies, and turned to face the two Dark Navi. "It's time for round two!"

"And this time, it's a whole new Netbattle. Recovery 50, Battle Chip in, Download!" Maylu announced. Her move sent waves of energy down to Roll, boosting her healing abilities and repairing the damage done to her Navi's arm.

"Right." Roll nodded as she flexed her repaired arm, working the kinks out of it. "As you, MegaMan, once said: 'This battle isn't over yet!'"

"And this time, we won't stop until we free you!"

"Ring Unison, Battle Chip in, Unite!" Maylu slid the disk home.

A shadowy form of Ring materialized over Roll, before a burst of light hid her from view. The next second, Roll was standing resolute, her armor changed to match Ring's frame.

"Dark Buster!" MegaMan DS went back on the offensive, filling the sky with his intense firepower.

"I don't think so, Ring Zap Rings!" Roll whipped about in place, and then swung her arm out wide, unleashing several sparking bands of electricity. Her attack shot through space, ripped through the Dark Navi's shots, and continued on to crash into the Dark Bomber's arm cannon.

MegaMan howled in misery as a wave of electrical current flooded his arm. As soon as he was able, he hefted his cannon and tried to fire, only to find his weapon useless; the Zap Ring had shorted it out.

"Sit tight, I'll take her out." KendoMan DS snapped to his ally. Instantly he was vaulting through the air, sword raised, and heading towards his small opponent.

"Not so fast, Area Steal, Fighter Sword, Download!"

Before KendoMan could finish his strike, the determined ProtoMan appeared before him as the Raider teleported across space with the Area Steal. The next second a long arrow shaped sword had burst into existence on his right arm. Quickly ProtoMan hauled back and cut loose, slicing his blade through the air in front of him.

KendoMan didn't even have time to shout, or more importantly, to raise his Dark Aura. He took the attack full force, and was sent plummeting backward across the Network.

"My turn." Punk tensed his silver arms, "Punk Fist!"

The spindly Navi's arms shot out as they extended, colliding solidly with the two Dark Navi. His punches succeeded in knocking the wind out of them, and decking the two dark allies.

"Not bad." A smirk appeared on MegaMan DS's face; with a grunt, the Dark Bomber righted himself.

"But not good enough." KendoMan finished the statement as he got to his feet.

Before the other's eyes, another Dark Sword appeared about MegaMan DS's hand, which he raised defensively.

"But let's see how you handle this…"

Roll screamed as her Unison shattered.

ProtoMan gasped he felt the force of the attack.

Punk merely moaned and dropped to the floor.

The trio of light Navi never knew what hit them. The next second they were lying on the ground, moaning, as the two Dark Navi appeared behind them and deactivated their swords.

"Pitiful…" The Dark Bomber grinned at his opponents.

"It doesn't matter what we try," Roll gasped as she rolled to her knees. "We always end up decked, and they haven't even broken a sweat."

"But we can't give up." Maylu commented, "Not until MegaMan's back with us."

"But at the same time, we can't get ourselves deleted." ProtoMan spoke his opinion; "It might be better if we retreat for a moment."

Punk growled in frustration as he flipped upright; he wasn't going to give up. Not now or ever! If it were the last thing he ever did!

"NO." The pink Navi snapped as she too righted herself, "I'm not giving up, not until we get those two back."

"Me neither." The spindle Navi snapped, "KendoMan, you can resist all you want, but I will knock some sense into your thick head!"

"And you might as well accept it too, MegaMan!" The pink wonder announced, "Because I'm going to keep hounding you until you remember just who you are!"

"Here we go." ProtoMan shook his head; he knew where this was going. "Cue up the guitar music…"

The crest on Roll's chest sparked for a second, and then exploded into a sea of light.

"We can't defeat 'em separate." Punk nodded, "But we can clobber 'em together!"

"Like we're going to give you the chance!" MegaMan DS snapped, as he reformed his Buster and sent his plasma attacks ripping through the air rapid fire, "I'll destroy you first!"

Before anyone could react, his shots hit home. The Dark Bomber's firepower exploded against Roll and Punk, burying them under the waves of energy pouring out of MegaMan's Buster.

"Let's see you Unison when you're deleted!" The Dark Bomber laughed wildly as he continued to fire a steady stream at his opponents.

The attacks continued crashing into the duo, exploding into flame, dust, and smoke that obscured the two Navi from view.

"ROLL!"

"PUNK!"

Finally, MegaMan stopped firing, satisfied with his handiwork.

And then his jaw dropped in shock. This couldn't be!

The smoke was thinning out, allowing everyone to see two Net Navi standing unharmed in the flames: Punk and Roll Punk Unison.

Roll's boots were now a deep red color and ran up to cover her knees, a small steel pearl was set in the kneepad of each. Her bodysuit had turned black, and her chest was now encased in thick red vest with silver trim. Two decent sized shoulder-pads hung from her vest, each one tipped with gray trim. Her gloves were red with silver markings, as was her helmet.

"We told you." Punk snapped as he hauled back his arm, "We ain't stopping until you're free!"

"And there's nothing you can do about it!" Roll agreed as she cocked her arm.

"Don't worry about a thing." KendoMan smirked to his ally as a sickish purple mist surrounded them. "We're protected by my Dark Aura."

"Yeah, but the Dark Aura didn't work out so well for PlantMan." The Dark Bomber pointed out.

Acting together, Roll and Punk went racing across the Network as they closed in on their opponents.

"Pathetic, they'll never get past my Dark Aura." The fencing Navi smirked in satisfaction.

"We'll see about that!"

"Huh?" KendoMan turned his head to see ProtoMan leaping at them from the right.

The Raider raised his sword, and began his descent towards the two Dark Navi.

"North Wind, Download!"

"North Wind!" The Raider swept his blade through space, unleashing a powerful gust of air that exploded down onto the two dark allies.

Before his eyes, KendoMan watched his Dark Aura begin to seep away and dissipate. He couldn't believe it! That puny little Battle Chip was eroding his barrier away, and ProtoMan wasn't letting up! The red pest was sending more of that wretched wind away, destroying his Dark Aura and leaving them defenseless.

"Double Punk Fist!"

"AAHH!" KendoMan felt a rock hard hand slam into his stomach, he had been too preoccupied with his failing defense to dodge the attack. The next thing he knew he was sailing through the air, and then he slammed into the ground, head first.

The world went dark as he lost consciousness.

Following Punk's lead, Roll rammed her fist into MegaMan DS. "Sorry, MegaMan…"

The Dark Bomber went flying across the Network, and crashed to the ground, hard.

"KendoMan's out like a light." The spindly Navi nodded in satisfaction, "Now I can take him back to Famous, and he'll be as good as new."

"Yeah, but we'll have to get past MegaMan first." Roll pointed to the Bomber, who was getting to his feet. "What's it take to stop him?"

"A lot." ProtoMan rejoined his allies.

"No kidding." The unisoned Navi shook her head.

"This ends now!" MegaMan DS lifted his Buster and fired at his opponents.

"Lightning Strike!"

A burst of electrical power came out of nowhere, and obliterated MegaMan DS's Buster shot.

"That move." Maylu gasped as her mind registered the voice. "It belongs to Otis and DracoMan!"

"DracoMan!" Roll glanced up; to see the blue cloaked Navi beam into the Network, a White Dragon at his side.

Without a word to the trio of allies, DracoMan turned to the Dark Bomber, and launched into his speech.

"MegaMan, I have come to do battle, and reclaim my honor."

"NO!" Lan screamed into his P.E.T., certain that Otis could hear him through the Network. "Otis, I won't let you delete MegaMan, no matter how renegade he is!"

"Tough." Otis' voice snapped back, "You put your Navi into Dark Soul, now I have every right to delete him. Say good-bye to the Navi. Do it DracoMan!"

"Yes, sir. Lightning Strike!"

At his master's command, the White Dragon by DracoMan's side opened its mouth, and sent a blast of lightning exploding across the Network at his opponent.

"Air Burst!"

"Oh no…" Roll Punk Unison gasped.

A purple orb of power rocketed through the air, and collided solidly with the Lightning Strike, destroying it completely.

"That means, BASS!" ProtoMan spoke the obvious.

A gagging sound caught everyone's attention; quickly they looked over to see Bass standing behind MegaMan DS…

The Black Shadow's arm was locked around the struggling Dark Navi's throat, and he showed no signs of letting go of the Bomber's neck anytime soon.

"NO!" Roll refused to just stand by and watch Bass destroy her friend, "Let him go!"

"DracoMan," Bass ignored the order, instead focusing his attention on the brown virus-summoning Navi. "Forget your plans."

Having issued his threat, the Black Shadow turned his attention back to MegaMan DS. "Come with me."

With that, the two Navi vanished in a burst of data, leaving the others behind.

"NO!" Roll screamed after them, what did Bass want with MegaMan?

"My apologies, sir." DracoMan ignored the girl, and turned back to his operator.

Otis didn't reply, but just logged his Navi out of the Network.

"I… I don't get it." The pink Navi's unison dissolved as she turned back to her companions, "Why did Bass want MegaMan?"

Unfortunately, none of them had any answers to that question.

* * *

Next: (Did you think I'd forget, Vokteren?) StarMan! 


	20. Light to the darkness Pt 1

Ri2, I could write an entire essay on the Navi question, but I'll leave it at this. Basically, there are only three possibilities. 1) KendoMan, GateMan, and Punk are all the same Navi, he's just been customized to look and act different. 2) Famous uses different Navi for different purposes, (GateMan for SciLab, Punk for regular Netbattling, etc.) 3) He's such a bad Op that he always gets his Navi deleted and has to create a new one.

V., there'll be more StarMan in a later chapter.

101010101010101010101010101010

MegaMan DS groaned as his battered consciousness began to return to him. The Dark Bomber shook his head and opened his eyes, pausing to allow a wave of dizziness to pass over his blurred vision.

"You live…"

The Dark Navi bolted upright, his eyes instantly coming to rest on the Black Shadow, Bass. Within seconds he had his Dark Buster formed and pointed at the bugged Navi as he got to his feet.

"What do you want with me?" The Dark Bomber kept his weapon trained on his opponent.

Bass didn't reply; he merely stood still.

"Answer me!" A deep purple glow began to build up in the barrel of MegaMan DS's gun. His intent was clear, he wanted answers or he'd blow Bass off the face of the earth.

"I want…" Bass deranged voice issued from his cloaked form.

MegaMan DS never knew what hit him.

Bass vanished from his spot, and reappeared directly behind the Dark Bomber. A split second later, MegaMan DS doubled over as his systems screamed in pain. Somehow, Bass had managed to land a hit on him…

"… A battle." The Black Shadow turned around to face his prey. His eyes clarifying his statement.

"Then you picked on the wrong dude." The Dark Bomber hefted his Buster. "Because I'm going to wipe the Network with you!"

"We shall see…"

101010101010101010101010101010

"It appears that Roll and Punk managed to knock some sense into KendoMan." Famous spoke over his link to the three kids. "And quite literally at that… he's actually starting to remember who he is, and with the help of the Vaccine Chip, I expect him to make a full recovery."

"I'm glad, that's another Dark Navi we don't have to deal with." Maylu commented into her terminal. With KendoMan out of the running, they only had MegaMan DS to deal with. The problem was, Bass had kidnapped the Navi, and no one knew just where they were hiding.

"I agree, congratulations, Famous." Chaud nodded his agreement.

"Yes, well, the job's not over until MegaMan is back among the living." The scientist shrugged in reply. "I'm doing my best to track them down, but there have been complications."

"Why am I not surprised?" Lan mumbled, at this point, all of his self control had been spent; he was beginning to loose whatever bravado he had been able to muster. "I just can't believe that this is happening… MegaMan almost deleted Roll… what's happening to him?"

"You know that as well as I." Answered Famous from the P.E.T. link. "And you also know that we have a very limited time frame to work with. If we don't restore MegaMan soon, it may be too late to save him altogether."

Gone…

The thought burned its way across Lan's mind. This was even worse than the time MegaMan had been deleted! Now he knew that MegaMan was out there somewhere in the Internet and that his Navi was slowly transforming into a monster. And he was powerless to do anything about it!

"MegaMan, forgive me." The Op repeated the sentence for the literally thousandth time.

Everyone remained silent, each one trying to figure a way out of this mess.

"HEY!"

All four Netbattlers jumped as a lazy voice ripped through the air. Instantly Lan, Chaud, and Maylu were glancing around trying to find the source of that voice.

"Over here! Fourth monitor from the left!"

Lan was the first to spot the Navi resting inside of the monitor's screen. Instantly his mind clicked and registered it. "StarMan, what do you want?"

"StarMan?" Maylu repeated in bewilderment.

"A Nebula Dark Navi." Chaud supplied the necessary information to his friend.

"Oh."

StarMan was a lanky Navi with a white and blue bodysuit and yellow hair that spike up and defied gravity. A yellow bandana was wrapped about his head, out of the back of which a long strand of hair fell. His eyes were nothing more than two black globes, and a lazy grin rested on his face. The Dark Navi floated up onto his back and then propped his arms behind his head.

"Now, don't tell Nebula that I'm here." StarMan launched into his explanation, a slight drawl inflicting his voice. "Because ShadeMan would kill me if he knew about this. But I'm willing to take you to MegaMan and Bass."

"Now hold on!" Lan vented his pent-up frustration and rage on the blond Navi. "You just show up, offer to betray Nebula, and expect us to believe you after all that you've done?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." StarMan grinned as if this were an everyday occurrence. "Primarily because I don't think Nebula knows what they're dealing with this time. Bass is way too powerful to be controlled."

"And what do you mean by that?" Chaud demanded an explanation to that sentence.

"Just this: that if Nebula has their way, there's going to be one rabid Black Shadow on the loose, and I don't think that's very healthy for any one of us."

1010101010101010101010101010101

"Air Burst!" Bass whipped out his arm, causing two purple spheres of energy to go flying through the air at his opponent.

MegaMan DS didn't even flinch, with a leap he immediately propelled himself up into the air. His maneuver caused the Air Bursts to whiz past him harmlessly, and instantly the Dark Navi was launching a counterattack. "Dark Mega Buster!"

Titanic blasts of energy shot through the sky, each one pinging off of Bass' skin without inflicting a shred of damage on the Black Shadow.

"Dark Sword!" The Dark Bomber summoned his sickly purple blade. The next instant he was rushing across space towards his adversary with sword upraised.

Bass didn't even speak a word as his Aura came to life.

MegaMan DS shot past the Solo Navi, and watched in horror as his blade shattered into a thousand tiny shards against the bugged Navi's barrier.

"Bass Cannon." The Black Shadow's right arm shot out of his cloak, a massive Buster equipped. With silent, lethal precision he fired away, his shots tearing through the air towards his opponent.

"Fudge." The Dark Bomber threw himself to his right, just barely squeaking past the deadly hailstorm of firepower.

That however, was just the move Bass had hoped his opponent would make. The next instant, the Black Shadow had appeared directly beneath the mid-air MegaMan, his Bass Cannon primed and ready to fire.

"Pathetic."

Bass unleashed his firepower, and watched it slam into his adversary. The deadly force ripped around the Dark Bomber, and then dumped him unceremoniously at the solo Navi's feet.

MegaMan DS gasped as he struggled to his feet. He had just barely reached his knees when an Air Burst exploded into him, sending him flying across the Network. Again the Bomber hit the ground and lay still.

"You've lost." Bass moved to tower over the inert MegaMan DS. "Now, you must surrender to me…"

"I'll never give… in!" The Dark Bomber's eyes flashed as he tried to get upright.

"You do not have a choice!"

Bass' hand slammed against the Dark Bomber's crest, causing MegaMan DS to scream in agony as the Black Shadow ripped the Ultimate Program from MegaMan's system.

101010100101010101010101010101

"I hate to say it." Maylu commented on hearing StarMan's version of the entire plot's events. "But it makes complete sense… I just hope that we're not too late."

"I know, IF blonde there is telling the truth." Chaud jerked his thumb at the Dark Navi. "Then we could be in serious trouble… but I don't see how we've got much choice, we don't have any other leads."

"Maylu, if this means the slightest chance in saving MegaMan, then we have to take it." Roll spoke up from her P.E.T.; "We've got to hurry before it's too late."

"Alright then, I guess that's that." The redhead shrugged for the others benefit. "What do we do StarMan?"

"Just jack into the terminal in the Blaze Jet, I've already routed it to send you where you need to go." StarMan replied. "But remember, you never saw me, and I never spoke to you."

_**StarMan Logging Out.**_

Chaud nodded as he raised his P.E.T., their course was clear.

"Be careful, guys." Lan cautioned his friends, "I don't want to loose either ProtoMan or Roll."

"We're not going anywhere." The Pink Navi replied, "So let's do it!"

"Jack in, Roll, Power Up!"

"Jack in, ProtoMan, Power Up!"

Several seconds later, Roll and ProtoMan found themselves rocketing along a data stream as they followed the course that StarMan had laid out for them. Abruptly, their journey came to an end as the link came to an end and they beamed down to the Network below.

A semi-empty system greeted the two Navi; program blocks were scattered about at random places, but the place managed to maintain a spooky atmosphere in spite of that fact.

"What are you doing here?"

Roll's head snapped around to find one not-so-thrilled DracoMan standing behind them, his arms folded across his chest in annoyance.

"As if you didn't know, we're here to get MegaMan back." The pink Navi shot her answer over her shoulder. "And to save him from you!"

"Save him from me?" Although one eyebrow raised quizzically, DracoMan's face remained passive for the most part.

"Yes." Roll didn't even look at the other Navi as she scanned the Network. "We know all about you and Otis, you want to delete MegaMan just because he beat you in the World Tour!"

"My Operator may have his own reasons." The brown Navi found himself continuing this conversation for some unknown reason. "But for me, this is not about revenge. This is about reclaiming my honor as a warrior."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I was defeated in battle, as such I lost my honor to the better warrior. However, if I can defeat the one who defeated me, then my dignity will be restored."

"You want to put that in English?" Roll rolled her eyes.

"When I lost my battle with MegaMan, I also tarnished my honor, and the honor of the Baka family. The only way for me to reclaim my dignity and the dignity of my operator is to find the Navi who beat me, and defeat him."

"DracoMan, you're missing the entire point-" The pink Navi cut her words off as she caught sight of a beam of light. The light exploded out of the sky and crashed into the ground, allowing the figure of MegaMan DS to be seen.

"What took you so long?" The Dark Bomber placed his hands on his hips to show his impatience.

"Wait, what happened to Bass?" ProtoMan ignored the taunt, and lashed out with a question of his own.

"Did you really think that that pathetic old guy could defeat me?" MegaMan DS smirked in reply, "I wiped the floor with him!"

"He's lying." Chaud hissed, "Even powered up by Dark Chips there's no way that MegaMan could defeat Bass without an Op."

"Enough with the lies." The Raider agreed with his Op, and posed the question again. "Where is he?"

"You here to talk or battle?" His Dark Sword forming, the Dark Bomber dodged the question.

Before Roll or ProtoMan could react to that statement, the dragon Navi standing behind them leapt through the air and rushed at the Dark Bomber.

"For the honor of my Op!" The brown Navi shouted as he raced towards his self-declared opponent. As he rushed blindly up to the Dark Navi, a hand held Katana appeared in his hands. "Sword of Legends!"

"You want to be deleted first, huh?" MegaMan raised his blade and prepared for the coming fight.

"That!" Roll's outburst was cut off as ProtoMan shot her a warning look.

"Let him," The Raider's default sword appeared on his arm, "We'll let DracoMan distract MegaMan for us, then we'll take him by surprise."

"I see, nice plan."

"HAI!"

DracoMan's blade snapped up, effectively stopping his opponent's thrust. Quickly he parried his sword, knocking the Dark Bomber's weapon aside. Then he slashed savagely at his adversary.

Without a word, the Dark Bomber thrust himself backward, dodging the attack. Putting some distance between them, the Dark Bomber landed on the ground a short distance away from DracoMan. The next second, the Bomber's sword was ripping through the air in front of him, unleashing a crescent of energy that swept towards his opponent.

"Since when did MegaMan learn the Sonic Boom?" Lan gaped at his Navi.

The Dark Bomber didn't reply, but dove forward after his attack. Drawing back his blade, MegaMan DS rushed his opponent.

DracoMan nimbly slipped to the right, easily clearing the wave of energy. Evading the Bomber's thrust, the caped Navi vaulted away.

"Now, Flute of Dragons, Battle Chip in, Download!" Otis' voice rang throughout the Network.

"Yes Sir." Without delay, DracoMan snatched up the glowing dragon-headed flute that hung from his neck. As he blew into the instrument, a sharp noise flooded the Network at the same instant that three large, white Dragon Viruses appeared in front of the Sharrian Navi. "White Dragons come to my aid!"

"When will you ever learn?" There was a hint of amusement in MegaMan DS's voice as he gazed at the newcomers. "I can't be defeated by those puny things."

"Maybe not at this time, but once I fuse them…" DracoMan snapped his free hand up, palm open, and pointed at the trio of dragons. "Ultimate Dragon awake!"

"Oh no," Roll couldn't believer her ears. "NO! DracoMan, don't!"

The caped Navi glanced at the pink wonder over his shoulder, and then turned his attention back to the fight. "Fuse now!"

MegaMan DS squinted at his opponent as the world exploded into a blindingly white light. After a few seconds the rays faded, allowing a much bigger version of the White Dragon virus to be seen.

"I remember this pathetic creature." The Dark Navi deformed his blade, summing his Mega Buster in its stead. "I remember him well…"

"And now you shall face his true unbridled fury!" The caped Navi shifted his focus to point at his opponent.

"Wipe him out!" Otis commanded.

"NO!" Terrified of the events unfolding before his eyes, Lan could only watch helplessly as the huge beast opened its mouth. A white glow was building up in the beast's throat… "Otis, stop, you can't!"

Ignoring the command, DracoMan launched his attack. "Lightning Strike Attack!"

A roar of fury erupted from the Ultimate Dragon, at the same instant that a blast of intense electrical power exploded from the Dragon's mouth. The attack shot through the air, its course set right at MegaMan DS.

A smile appeared on the Dark Navi's face as his doom rushed closer...

"I can't tell you how satisfying this will be…" The Dark Bomber's Buster snapped up, and unleashed its true potential. "Dark Mega Buster!"

The Dark Bomber's shot ripped through space, colliding solidly with the Electric Strike…

"I don't believe it…" Roll's eyes went wide as she stared at the scene before her.

The Ultimate Dragon went flying backward through the air, a split second later it crashed to the ground and lay still. The huge beast's strength had been spent, it had given it his all, but that hadn't been enough.

"He'll pay for that…" Otis' voice steamed through the air. "Now, DracoMan, its time to destroy him. Program Advance."

DracoMan's eyes widened in disbelief as he heard those words come from his Op. Risking a quick glance over his shoulder, the brown Navi glanced at Roll and ProtoMan. He desperately wanted to win his honor back, true, but he wasn't willing to…

"No, sir!" The Navi set his eyes in determination. It was not worth regaining one form of honor and loose another. "I will not use the Poison Pharaoh. Not with innocents in the area."

"What? You dare disobey a direct order!" Otis clearly wasn't pleased with this development. How dare his Navi turn on him!

"If I use the Poison Pharaoh, then the other two Navi will be affected as well. It would be dishonorable to destroy them in pursuit of another. And in his current state, MegaMan could easily outlast them should we continue with this Program Advance."

"This is treason! DracoMan, this is a direct order, you are to use the Poison Pharaoh and obliterate that Dark Navi now!"

DracoMan hesitated for a second; maybe he was just making a big deal out of nothing. But another look at the two allies strengthened his resolve. He couldn't do it.

"No sir, I will not."

"You… Bak-"

"Careful how you finish that!" Lan cut Sharrian Op off, he knew that his comment was helping matters, but Otis E. Baka had him really ticked off at the moment.

Back in the Network, MegaMan DS smirked as his leveled his MegaBuster at his opponent. "Well, isn't that sweet? He cares about the two losers."

DracoMan didn't have time to react; a blast of energy from the Dark Mega Buster exploded against him. The impact sent him crashing backward to the hard Network floor below.

No sooner had the caped Navi landed, then the Dark Bomber appeared over his downed opponent. Towering over DracoMan, MegaMan DS summoned his Dark Sword and raised it for the final strike. This was it; it was time to cut DracoMan from the script!

ProtoMan made his move, his sword formed, he lunged forward and tore across the Network at the Dark Navi.

"Sonic Boom!"

He never made it. A blast of firepower exploded against him, its impact sending him sprawling to the floor.

"Now then." MegaMan DS turned his attention back DracoMan. "Where were we?"

The brown Navi just lay there on the floor; eyes fixed on the deadly blade. He had lost again; again he had tarnished the honor of his Operator's family by loosing, and by disobeying a direct order. Having broken the Code of Honor, his life wasn't worth continuing now. DracoMan closed his eyes, and resigned himself to his fate.

"Nice knowing you." MegaMan DS prepared to bring his blade down.

**To Be Continued.**


	21. Light to the darkness Pt 2

Ri2, I doubt it. But hey, who knows?

M. Critic, actually, I chalk the quality of the Seto Kaiba rip up to my ignorance of the YGO realm.

And we're rapidly closing in on the end of this fic. I count one more battle and then we're all set to wrap this up.

1010101010101010101010101010101

"Nice knowing you." MegaMan DS prepared to bring his blade down.

Roll's eyes jumped about, trying to find some way out of this mess. It was then that she saw it, the answer to their problems.

The wounded Ultimate Dragon, the beast had never been destroyed, just heavily damaged.

"Come on big guy." The pink Navi rushed over to the dragon, a small pink heart forming in her hands. "We've got a Navi to save…"

A short distance away, MegaMan DS's sword began its descent. In a matter of seconds, this meddling DracoMan would be no more…

"Lightning Strike!"

A blast of electrical energy exploded against MegaMan's frame, the huge impact sent him flying across the Network. And as a result he never finished his strike to delete the dragon Navi.

DracoMan twisted about, trying to find out just what had saved him. He got his answer when he spotted his Ultimate Dragon flying across the ground towards him, and there, seated firmly on the beast's shoulders was a familiar pink Navi…

"She stole my Dragon from me…" Otis' voice clearly identified the fact that he was not pleased with these developments.

With a groan, MegaMan DS slammed into the ground. Instantly he was back on his feet. With a battle cry, he formed his Mega Buster and sighted on DracoMan, he'd take this Navi out if it were the last thing he ever did! A split second later a burst of his firepower was racing across the Network towards his downed opponent.

"DracoMan!" Roll shouted a warning as she guided the wounded virus towards its former master. "Quick, jump on!"

The caped Navi had just gotten to his feet, when he heard that warning. As the Ultimate Dragon shot past him, the Sharrian Navi leapt onto the virus' back. An instant passed and the Dark Navi's attack ripped through the now vacant spot.

"This is impossible." DracoMan marveled at the events unfolding before him. "The White Dragons have never obeyed another Navi before…"

"I guess it just likes me." The pink Navi shrugged, keeping her 'Roll Control' ability a secret, and then turned to address her new 'pet'. "All right, boy, come in for an easy landing."

Obediently, the huge Dragon gently settled down on the floor. Once it had come to a stop, it lowered itself to all fours, and allowed the two Navi to dismount.

"And just how long do you intend to keep this up?" The Dark Bomber turned to face his opponents. "You are only delaying the inevitable. It's only a matter of time before I destroy you."

"Roll, I appreciate the rescue," DracoMan ignored the taunt coming from the Dark Navi; he had more important business to attend to. "But you shouldn't have bothered… I have failed again, and I am too injured to continue this fight. I have lost all of my honor now."

"Listen," The pink wonder turned away from MegaMan to face her new ally. "DracoMan, you've got this all wrong. Honor isn't about winning every match that comes your way, it's about carrying out your actions with dignity. You know; when you refused to use that Poison Pharaoh P. A., you showed a great amount of honor. You refused to make a move that would put others, who weren't your opponents, in danger, and that makes you an honorable Navi in my sight."

For a long moment, all was still as the Dragon Navi processed this idea. Then ignoring the idea, he changed topics completely.

"Roll, You've proven yourself worthy of my power, and so I pass it on to the better warrior."

Roll's eyes widened as her crest ignited for the second time that day.

"Use it with honor… your honor."

"I will, I promise you that."

"SOUL UNISON!"

Roll turned to face her opponent, as her new armor materialized. First, her boots switched to a deep brown color with a silver band running across her knees. As her bodysuit turned completely black, a brown form-fitting piece of chest armor locked into place, two large, brown shoulder-pads tipped with silver appeared. Next, her gloves shifted to bronze as a tattered blue cape rolled out from under her shoulder-pads. Finally, her helmet became chestnut, with two silver triangles decorating the front sides at 45-degree angles. "Draco Unison!"

"Alright, MegaMan, it's time to knock some sense into you!"

"So you've got a new look." MegaMan DS shrugged as he raised his Mega Buster. "But you'll never defeat me!"

Roll remained silent as the Dark Bomber fired his cannon; she had to wait for just the right moment…

The burst of energy rushed closer.

"Now!" The transformed Navi's hand shot up, palm open. Quickly she pointed her hand outward as a rush of data blew past her, and began forming another virus on the field. "Chibi Dragon!"

A roar split the air…

In response to her cry, a smaller, much more cartoonish, rubbery version of the White Dragon Virus materialized in front of Roll. With a high-pitched growl its mouth dropped open, expelling a burst of electrical energy that raced across the field. The dragon's shot exploded into MegaMan DS's, destroying both attacks.

"WHAT IS THAT THING?" Otis' voice ripped through the air. "What did you do to my dragon?"

"Isn't it cute?" Roll smiled back in reply, "It just makes you want to 'huggle' it!"

"Graaaw." The Chibi Dragon's face went beet red, as it ducked its head in embarrassment.

"That thing's a!"

"Careful how you talk about my dragon!" The unisoned Navi snapped, "I like him just the way he is."

"Ugh." Lan winced as he looked at the cartoon-virus.

"What's wrong?" Maylu overheard the Op's comment. "Is this about the dragon?"

"Let me put it this way." The brunette grimaced, "That Chibi Dragon can only be described as freakishly scary with intent to be cute."

Back in the Network, MegaMan was extremely unimpressed by the new player.

"We'll see how well that thing fares against this…" The Dark Navi raised his arm as a shadowy Dark Sword burst into existence.

"If you insist." Roll turned and vaulted back onto the Ultimate Dragon's back. At her command the beast lifted off of the ground, and began skimming the floor as it raced towards her opponent.

"Sword of Legends!" The caped female Navi raised her right arm as a handheld sword appeared between her fingers.

MegaMan hefted his blade, and rushed forward at his adversary.

Roll set her eyes in determination as she rode her virus closer to the renegade Navi.

The two battlers met in a shower of sparks. And then the two blew past each other continuing on their way. Neither one had landed a hit.

"Not bad, but useless." The Dark Bomber turned around to face his opponent.

"Alright, its time to end this and get you back." Roll circled her dragon around, and lined up with the Dark Navi. "Chibi Dragon!"

"Rah!" The miniature virus perked up as it heard its name.

"Attack MegaMan, Tiny Lightning!" The dragon master ordered her virus, before turning her attention back to the Ultimate Dragon. "Let's go, big guy!"

"And, forgive me MegaMan, but I don't have a choice." Roll pointed her blade at the Dark Navi. "Attack!"

The Chibi Dragon its electrical firepower.

MegaMan grinned as his Buster whipped up. A split second later, a burst of energy was exploding away from his gun barrel. "Dark Mega Buster!"

"And you forgot about this guy!"

The Dark Navi's head snapped around, to see Roll, still riding her Ultimate Dragon, approaching his attack at a right angle.

"Prepare to attack!" The Unisoned Navi instructed her beast.

A growl escaped the White Dragon, as it's mouth opened. A white orb of electrical power lit up the back of its throat as the Dragon waited for the order to proceed.

"Aim for MegaMan's Buster shot. Now! Lightning Strike Attack!"

An explosion of energy whipped through the air, as the Dragon cut loose its power. The colossal attack ripped through space, and continued on to shred the Dark Bomber's attack to ribbons.

And now that MegaMan DS's Buster attack had been neutralized, the way was clear for the Chibi Dragon's attack to race on, right into the Dark Navi.

As the Ultimate Dragon landed, and Roll dismounted, the Chibi Dragon's attack exploded around MegaMan, erasing him from view.

The pink wonder waited as her Unison dissolved; seconds passed before the Tiny Lightning had finished its course.

The disheveled figure of a battered MegaMan DS came into view, apparently he had taken a pounding from that attack.

"Well," The Dark Navi looked up, rearing himself back to his full height. "I'll give you credit for trying, Sugar."

"He still hasn't given up!" ProtoMan gasped in disbelief.

"Powerful attack." The Dark Bomber continued to address Roll. "But not nearly powerful enough. But like I said, nice try, Sugar."

A growl slipped from the pink Navi's throat, the next instant she was lunging forward through the air. Her right hand cocked back, palm open, as she stared into the look of bewildered horror appearing on MegaMan's face.

"DON'T CALL ME 'SUGAR'!" Roll's hand snapped around, feeling a small twinge of satisfaction as she slapped the Dark Navi's face.

"Huh?"

Roll snapped around, to see one her opponent looking completely bewildered. It took her a second to notice it: MegaMan's eyes had lost their sharpness, the REAL MegaMan was currently in control.

"What… what happened?" The Bomber glanced about at himself, his face twisting in disgust of his beefed up armor. "And what am I wearing?"

"He's back!" Lan's voice rang through the Network, "MEGAMAN!"

"Mega… you're really back?" Roll couldn't believe her eyes; this was the moment she had looked forward to…

"Yeah, I guess so- BurnerMan!"

The Pink Navi's head whipped around, to see the flaming Navi materialize behind her a short distance away.

And it was clear that the Nebular Navi wasn't pleased with this development.

"Well, well, you broke through his Dark Soul, impressive." The fire Navi raised a hand, twisting his fingers together. "But I'm afraid that it just won't last…"

BurnerMan snapped his fingers with an audible 'pop'. Almost in response, MegaMan's face took on a mask of pain as he threw his hands over his ear-guards.

"What- what's happening?" Roll, Maylu, and Lan shouted in unison.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" MegaMan screamed in reply. His frame began convulsing as he desperately fought the dark powers trying to emerge once again. "I can- I can't keep his back! He's trying to come back!"

"NO!" The brunette screamed into his P.E.T., he'd just gotten MegaMan back, he wouldn't loose him again!

"That's it, come back to your true allies, the world of Nebula." BurnerMan replied in a deceptively hypnotic voice.

"Fight it, MegaMan! You're stronger than that thing!"

"Too many voices!" The Bomber shuddered as he continued to press his hands against his ears, in an effort to quell the ideas racing through his mind. "I WANT IT TO STOP!"

"Come back to Nebula…"

"NO! MegaMan!"

"AAUGH!" The Bomber screamed against the ideals struggling within him.

"ENOUGH!"

Roll's voice shot through the air, bringing the shouting match to a complete stop, and silencing both Navi and Op. With determination written in her face, the pink Navi marched up to the quivering Bomber and stood her ground.

"THEY WON'T STOP!" MegaMan was still thrashing about, even though the Network was filled with silence.

"Mega…" As gently as she could, Roll took the Bomber's head in her own, and turned it so that she could look into his sickly red eyes.

"Don't listen to any of them." The pink Navi stared past the red surface of her friend's eyes; her green eyes peered through the mist, past the confusion, around the anger, searching for the real hero in her friend. "Listen to yourself, the MegaMan deep inside that knows who he is, and can decide his own fate for himself."

For a long moment, all was still as the two continued to exchange the look. Finally, MegaMan blinked once…

And his eyes became sharp and piercing once again…

"Thanks for the advice," The Bomber's cannon snapped up, and locked onto Roll. "But that MegaMan's long gone, sweetheart."

"What? But-" The pink Navi stuttered in disbelief, she had been sure that MegaMan was stronger than this…

"What's the matter? Didn't expect to see me?" The deranged Bomber grinned at her consternation.

"Excellent, welcome back to the dark side MegaMan." A grin materialized on BurnerMan's face as he walked up behind Roll towards his ally.

"Its good to be back." The Bomber snapped as he kept his weapon pointed at the pink Navi between him and BurnerMan. "Now, I think I'll waste this gal right here and now."

"Be my guest…" Thedark Navi replied.

"NOW!"

The flaming Nebular Navi never knew what hit him.

As MegaMan's Buster cut loose, Roll vaulted backward into a mid-air somersault. As a result of her maneuver, MegaMan's laser whipped over her tumbling body without even scratching her. His seemingly wild shot raced on, straight into BurnerMan who was standing directly behind Roll.

But the move didn't end there.

The pink wonder snapped about into a handstand, before vaulting up into the air. Once she had enough height, she spun around, unleashing a Roll Blast on the Dark Navi.

Completely stunned by this turn of events, the fire Navi didn't even try to raise a defense. He took the attacks at their full force, and was sent tumbling backward-

Straight into the waiting blade of ProtoMan.

"Not again!"

The flaming Navi vanished in a burst of pixilated data.

"Alright! The 'Good Cop/Bad Cop' move we developed for the Tag Team Tournament!" Roll pumped her arm in satisfaction. "We finally got to use it."

"So that's where it came from." The Raider shook his head in disbelief. He hadn't been in on the little plan, all he'd seen was a chance to take out BurnerMan when the others had attacked, and so he had seized the moment and ended the fight before it could begin.

"Yeah, I was hoping you could read my mind, Roll." MegaMan, no longer slave to his Dark Soul, chuckled. "That was a huge gamble on my part."

"But one that was worth it." The pink Navi grinned back.

"MegaMan!"

"LAN!" The Bomber spun around, to find himself staring through the com-link to his Op. "It's great to see you again!"

"Great to have you back, buddy." The brunette beamed at his Navi.

"And it's great to be back." MegaMan replied, "But what say we get back to SciLab so that I can get out of this crazy armor?"

Unfortunately, the scene wasn't over yet.

"DracoMan."

Everyone looked over to see a com-link window appearing behind the Sharrian Navi. Hiding a grimace, the dragon Navi turned around, to face his operator.

"My apologies, sir."

"I'm extremely disappointed with your actions." The Sharrion ignored his Navi's words. "You are due to be reprimanded."

"I- AAUGH!"

"What? NO!" Roll gasped as a burst of energy came from nowhere, and ripped straight through the caped Navi. As her eyes widened in horror, DracoMan's frame shuddered as his face registered complete shock.

"No…" The words slipped away from the Navi, as his frame suddenly morphed into the words: 'Deleted.' A split second later, he had reverted back into his Navi form, the dissolving process beginning.

There was nothing they could do, but watch as DracoMan slipped away forever.

On the other side of YumLand, a brown P.E.T. Advance crashed to the floor, its Op having been too stunned to keep his grip on it. The screen flashed, and then displayed the message no Op ever wanted to see. "Data Deleted."

"That…" Otis' statement dropped off, as the full reality of the events hit him. Slowly his eyes slid closed, blocking any hint of weakness from him. Any sign of weakness, except for one single tear that slipped away and ran down his face. The first tear that Otis E. Baka had ever shed.

10101010101010101011010101010

"I warned him," The shadowy form of Bass lowered his cannon, "And DracoMan ignored my warning, his fate was deserved."

"Excellent work, Bass." Another Navi, hidden in the shadows, appeared behind the Black Shadow. His voice was deceptively familiar… "Now, come with us, and learn your destiny."

"As you wish, ShadeMan." Bass turned and followed the Nebula leader as they logged out of the Network.

End Chapter.

Next: Betrayal!


	22. Final battles Pt 1

Whoops. Massive oversight on my part. (I'll be so glad when I get a full nights sleep tonight for the first time in a month). Once again, thanks goes to LazerWulf for supplying more YGO information about the Blue Eyes Toon Dragonfor that last chapter. And thanks for the 'Huggle' line as well.

A. John, obvious to you maybe. But no one else got it when they showed up.

1010101010101010101010101010101010

"I still can't believe this!" Sozoji sulked in his own private 'pity party'. The other Nebula members, well accustomed to his habits, didn't even give him a second look for it. "Not only did that pest refuse to use a Dark Chip, but she freed MegaMan from his Dark Soul as well!"

"I guess that's just the way the melody plays." KaraokeMan shrugged from his P.E.T., "Nothin' we can do about it."

"But I'm not done yet." The lounge singer muttered, "We'll find a way to make those Navi ours, if it's the last thing I ever do."

"Can it, Sozoji."

The Op's face went white, as he looked up to find Yuri standing over him. And it was clear that she wasn't in a good mood.

"The plan to take them failed, true." The Nebula agent snapped, "But we gained a more powerful asset in their place. And that asset is all we need."

"What could possibly be more powerful than those three Navi?"

"Bass." Yuri's eyes flashed in annoyance at this Op's curiosity from behind her sunglasses. "Apparently, our lovable villain noticed an increase in the power of MegaMan's Ultimate Program and decided to steal the said program. Fortunately for us, Bass made a horrible mistake, meaning that the most powerful Net Navi the world has ever seen now currently works for us."

"You mean… Bass?" Sozoji's face turned even paler at the thought.

"No, I mean WackoMan on steroids. Of course I mean Bass!" The Nebula agent barked with furious intensity. "As of now, we are no longer concerned with MegaMan, ProtoMan or Roll. Forget about them, its time to move on."

With that pleasant exchange, Yuri turned on her heel and stormed away, leaving a humbled Sozoji behind.

Humbled until a familiar gleam appeared in the performer's eyes.

The gleam of revenge…

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"Well, I'm glad that that mess is over with." Lan breathed a sigh of relief as their aircraft touched down in Den Tech International. "If we ever go through a mess like that again, it'll be too soon for me."

"I agree, wholecyberheartedly." MegaMan nodded from his P.E.T., being thrust into Dark Soul and becoming a Darkloid was not something he really enjoyed. Nor did he have any desire to repeat the experience.

"But now this adventure's over with." The brunette replied, "Well, almost… I'd say we could close the book on this just as soon as Maylu's surgery is finished. Speaking of which, has Chaud scheduled it yet?"

"As a matter of fact, I have." The double-haired kid nodded from his seat across the aisle. "If it's fine with Maylu, we'll have the procedure performed in about two months."

"I'd do it tomorrow if at all possible." The blind girl commented, "Its… amazing, I'm actually going to see again…"

Chaud remained silent; he didn't want to remind her that there was still a possibility that the surgery would fail. But he would never have proposed the idea if he weren't certain that it would work. It was funny. He'd always been reserved and looked on a cold-hearted, but there was something about Maylu that just brought out the warm-spirited person in him. He just wished that he knew what it was…

But there would be time for that later; a slight jerk caught everyone's attention as the plane settled down in a landing. This was it; their world tour was over…

And that was a welcome thought.

Fortunately, they passed through customs without a problem. And were soon free to leave and head home.

"Well, it's been fun." Lan commented as he snapped his rollerblades onto his shoes. "But I've got to get to SciLab and have Dad check MegaMan out. We want to be sure that his Dark Soul's completely gone."

"What's that?" Maylu expressed her mock disbelief. "You don't trust those Vaccine Chips?"

"I trust those Chips about as far as I can throw Chaud while he's Cross Fused." The brunette quipped, before tossing a wave over his shoulder. "I've gotta get. See ya!"

Chaud shook his head as the brown-haired Op skated away. But since he was in this situation, he decided that he might as well take advantage of it.

"Maylu, may I walk you home?"

"Oh, I… suppose so." The redheaded Netbattler nodded, more than a little surprised at her companion's boldness. Normally, walking her somewhere was a privilege reserved for Lan alone, but this time she felt like making an exception… "Although it would probably be easier just to let Mom and Dad know that we're home. But then, I'd like to surprise them."

"That's fine with me. Let's go."

"You know, Chaud. The more time I spend with you, the more I find myself thinking that you're not the jerk we all took you for at first." Maylu seized the first thread of conversation to come to her mind.

"I wonder if I should take that as a compliment or an insult." The double-haired kid muttered; a hint of teasing nature was in his voice.

Maylu's face reddened as she realized just what she had said. "I didn't mean it like that! It's just… I don't know, you've changed a lot over the past few months."

"I know you didn't." Chaud smothered a look of annoyance as his P.E.T. began beeping wildly. Suppressing his urge to ignore the Terminal, he excused himself and then took the call. "ProtoMan?"

"My apologies." The Raider's voice was all business, "But you need to know about this. KaraokeMan and Sozoji are attacking the mainframe of Blaze Medical. And you know as well as I what they're after."

Chaud's face went white as the full implications of that fact hit him like a Net Bike in overdrive. "But how did he know?"

"That, I don't know." The Navi admitted, "But if we don't act soon…"

"Then KaraokeMan will wipe out all our records on this surgical procedure, the only one that can restore her sight..." The Official Netbattler could feel a spark of anger igniting within him. Maylu had been through so much in these past few months; she deserved better than this. And he wouldn't let some moronic Net Op with a psychopathic Net Navi destroy Maylu's only chance of seeing again. "Tell them I'm on my way. Maylu, I'm afraid that you'll have to excuse me-"

"No, I won't because I'm coming with you!" The redhead's voice left no room for argument. "This guy's been a thorn in our side for too long, its time to take him down once and for all!"

The Official knew from past experience that it was pointless to argue with a determined Maylu. So he quickly agreed, and together, they set off to put an end to this new threat.

101010101010101010101010101010

"Sound Blast!"

_**Net Navi Logging Out.**_

"So far so good." KaraokeMan nodded to himself as the last of the security Navi vanished in a burst of data. "It won't be long now and then we'll have wiped out all of the info on this surgery."

"Take your time." Sozoji replied; he didn't want that data destroyed just yet. He had much bigger things in store for that redheaded pest and her pink cohort. "Don't forget, I want them to show up."

"Yeah, yeah…" The singing Navi glanced up and down the Network. Where would they put the data on something like this? Not out in the open, surely. It had to be someplace more secure…

Suddenly, the Nebular Navi stiffened as he sensed a rush of movement behind him. Acting on his instinct, KaraokeMan threw himself to his left, just as a hailstorm of hearts exploded through the spot he had vacated.

The Dark Navi whipped about, turning to face his attackers.

"You know, we've really got to stop meeting like this." KaraokeMan glanced up to see Roll and ProtoMan charging toward him.

Roll ignored the taunt, and continued to race onward towards her opponent.

"Cyber Sword, Battle Chip in, and Download!" Maylu's voice rang out.

"All right, KaraokeMan." The pink wonder raised her fist as a neon pink sword materialized came to life. "We're about to cut you from the show!"

"Enough with the bad puns already…" The electrical Navi groaned in annoyance as his Op inserted an Electro Sword. In response to the maneuver, the Nebular Navi's right hand transformed into a sparking blue blade.

KaraokeMan and Roll met, their blades locking together. Neither Navi moved, not wanting to be the first to break out of the hold.

Which played right into ProtoMan's hands. The Red Raider summoned his default blade and went flying forward, sending his sword into KaraokeMan.

Stunned by the attack, the electrical Navi gasped as the force of impact sent him plunging backward. For a few seconds he flew through the air, and then abruptly crashed to the ground, hard.

"Now, let's make this quick." Chaud instructed as he fed two Battle Chips into his P.E.T. Advance. "Wide Sword, Long Sword, Battle Chips in, Download!"

"Blade Tornado!" ProtoMan's frame exploded into a blurred image as he began rapidly spinning in place. The 'tornado' roared over the ground, ProtoMan's blades flying out at all angles from the windstorm. The Blade Tornado rushed over KaraokeMan, repeatedly slashing him with the two different blades.

Once ProtoMan had passed by Nebular Navi, he stopped his spin and dropped to the ground.

"You know…" KaraokeMan panted as he tried to catch his breath from the assault. "Two to one odds just aren't fair. I think I need a partner…"

"You should have thought of that before you came rampaging in here." Roll snapped; her patience was at an end.

"Now, let's finish this." Maylu held a group of Battle Chips above her P.E.T., "Its time for the Program Advance-"

"A partner? Oh, I thought of that." The singing Navi chuckled to himself.

"And make sure that you put up a good fight." Sozoji's voice flooded the Network; "I can assure you that it'll be your last."

"So without further ado." KaraokeMan chortled, "May I present my partner in tonight's power battle? The one, the only, the great Bass Dark Soul!"

"Say what?" Maylu and Roll gasped in disbelief.

"So that's what happened to Bass." ProtoMan muttered, as the answer began to dawn on him.

"He must have tried to interface with MegaMan." Chaud picked up the explanation. "And absorbed MegaMan's Dark Soul in the process."

"But if that's the case," The pink Navi noticed a minor inconsistency in that story. "Why didn't MegaMan go Bug Style again?"

"Last time he went Bug Style because Bass interfaced with him, merging his consciousness with MegaMan's to read his memories." The Official pondered out the solution to these events. "This time he must have just tried to steal MegaMan's Ultimate Program via the Get Ability. And messed up big time."

"Now, I think that's enough talk." KaraokeMan was practically beside himself with glee. "Let's get this party started! Come on out Bass!"

As soon as those words left the electrical Navi's mouth, the ground began to shake and rattle beneath Roll and ProtoMan's feet. Together the two Navi bucked left and right in a wild attempt to remain upright.

"This is not good." Roll frenziedly shifted her feet in an effort to keep her balance.

"That's stating it mildly." ProtoMan shot back, as he too tried to maintain his footing.

Abruptly, the shaking stopped.

And then it struck.

A section of the Network's tiled floor exploded. The tiles erupting into dust and debris, creating a large hole in the process. As the Network shuddered and lost power, causing the interior to darken dramatically, the ominous form of Bass DS began to emerge from the crater.

Overall, his armor hadn't changed at all, the only differences to his Dark Soul being that his body was more muscularly detailed than in its previous state.

"So, its time for Round 2." Laughed KaraokeMan. "Right, Bass?"

"I am at your service." The Dark Bugged Navi swept his cloak behind him, preparing himself for battle.

"Just fine, now, annihilate those two!"

"With pleasure." Two Air Bursts, semi-transparent orbs of energy, appeared in Bass' palms. Without another word the Black Shadow began move forward, stalking his prey…

END CHAPTER!

Next: In the heat of battle, Roll performs her final Soul Unison... ever.


	23. Final battles Pt 2

Begin Chapter!

"Stay focused," ProtoMan readied his blade, "this is not going to be easy."

"You're a master of the understatement." Roll quipped uneasily, as she kept her eyes glued to the rapid Black Shadow. As she did so, she remembered StarMan's warning that Nebula had been targeting Bass all along, and even with that warning they had fallen short in their goal to stop that from happening.

"Now," KaraokeMan pointed his oversized hand at his opponents. "Wipe them out!"

"Let's not give him that chance." Maylu hurriedly slammed three Battle Chips into her P.E.T., "Cyber Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword, Battle Chips in, Download! Program Advance: Activated!"

"I'll raise you on that." Chaud inserted his own pair of chips, "Cyber Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword, Download, Program Advance: Activated."

The two cybernetic allies quickly fused their three individual blades together into a long narrow sword of pure energy. Acting in unison they hauled back their swords and prepared to strike.

"Double Life Force Sword!"

In perfect synch, ProtoMan and Roll slashed through the air in front of them with their swords. As they did so a crescent-shaped band of energy exploded out of the Life Force Swords and rushed across the Network.

But it didn't end there.

The attacks of the two individual Program Advances actually wrapped about one another in mid-air, fusing together into a Double Program Advance.

Bass didn't even flinch as the explosion of energy crashed towards him, his eyes didn't even seem to register its existence as the Black Shadow formed his Bass Cannon and leveled it at shoulder's height.

"Bass Buster."

A burst of intense power discharged out of the gun barrel, the energy of Bass' attack shot through the air, and headed straight for the Program Advance.

Or rather, straight through it.

Roll gasped as Bass' attack shattered the Double Program Advance like it was nothing more than butter. Quickly, she regained control of her composure and raised her heavy Life Force Sword as the Black Shadow's attack careened towards her; she had to deflect it.

"What are you thinking?"

Something hard and small rammed into the pink wonder from behind, and the impact sent her tumbling to the floor and causing her Program Advance to shatter.

Because of her current decked position, Bass' attack whipped over her head, but failed to harm Roll.

"Didn't you learn anything from that last exchange?" Roll looked up to see StarMan hovering over her. "You can't deflect Bass' attacks with a Life Force Sword! It just isn't possible."

The pink Navi shook her head as she righted herself, and got back to her feet.

ProtoMan however, had a pressing question on his mind.

"Why'd you save her?"

"Me?" StarMan glanced about, as if trying to find out who the Raider was addressing. After a second he shrugged and answered the question. "Can I help it if I've got a thing for blondes?"

ProtoMan stifled a groan before turning back to the fight with Bass. "Is there anyone who doesn't have a crush on Roll?"

"I guess that it makes things easy come Valentine's Day," StarMan shrugged, "to have everyone like you… I never got a valentine…"

"We'll worry about your scarred childhood later." The Red Raider snapped, "For the moment, let's concentrate on Bass."

"Good idea." The spiky-haired Navi turned to face the Black Shadow. "Any idea how we take him out?"

"The same way we did last time." Roll's face became a mask of determination. "Teamwork."

"Then let's do this." Chaud nodded his agreement.

"Quit fooling around, Bass!" Snapped KaraokeMan. "Take them out!"

The Black Shadow nodded in reply, before forming two more Air Bursts in his open hands.

"We'll cover the attacks." The pink wonder put herself into motion, throwing herself to the left. "You go for the strike, ProtoMan."

"Roger that!" StarMan leapt to the right, his own yellow bow appearing about his right wrist.

Bass' arms snapped around, throwing his two spheres forward at his opponents. "Air Bursts!"

"High Cannon Battle Chip in, Download! 3 Attack Plus 10 Battle Chips in, Triple Download!" Maylu sent her chips flying into her pink P.E.T. Advance.

Not wasting an instant, Roll equipped her powered up cannon and locked onto the closer Air Burst. Once certain that she had a clear shot, she unleashed her firepower.

"Star Arrow!" StarMan brought his weapon around to bear on the other attack. Swiftly he unleashed a barrage of star-tipped arrows that flooded through the sky, and the Air Burst.

As the two electrical spheres vanished from the Navi's attacks, ProtoMan made his move. Flying between the two dissipating attacks, the Raider rushed Bass.

"Fighter Sword Battle Chip in, and Download!"

A golden hilt sporting fancy design burst into existence about the Red Raider's right wrist, the next instant a diamond-shaped blade materialized inside of the sword's shaft. With practiced precision, ProtoMan closed in on Bass and cocked his arm back.

The next instant Bass vanished from sight, and less than a split second later, ProtoMan's blade shattered into a thousand pieces.

"What in the disk drive?"

ProtoMan never got a chance to finish that statement. Before he had overcome the shock of loosing his weapon, a blast of energy exploded against his back. The force of the impact knocked the swordsman off of his feet, and sent him crashing to the ground.

"He's fast…" StarMan gasped in disbelief, "He's even faster than before he went DS."

"ProtoMan!" In concern, the pink Navi shot across the Network towards her downed ally. It was then that she noticed Bass materializing over the injured Raider.

"Now, to finish you…" The Black Shadow equipped his default cannon, and leveled it at his adversary.

"NO!" Unconsciously, Chaud's grip on his P.E.T. tightened as he watched Bass prepare to finish off his friend.

"MAYLU!"

"Five Arrow Battle Chips in, Download!" The redheaded Netbattler slammed the disks into her Chip Slot. "Program Advance: Activated!"

Roll stretched out her right hand as a jeweled bow and arrow locked about her wrist. Setting her sights on Bass, she aimed her weapon and drew back the string, priming her arrow for the release… 

"Program Advance:" The pink Navi let her shot fly, desperately hoping that she had aimed correctly. "Omega Arrow!"

The golden arrow exploded out of the bow, and ripped through the air towards the two other Navi. As it flew, six other arrows materialized about the arrow, and together they shot onward…

Bass didn't stand a chance.

The Program Advance slammed into him, knocking him off of ProtoMan, who promptly teleported away via an Area Steal.

"That was too close." Roll breathed a sigh of relief, as the Raider materialized behind her and StarMan.

"Nice shot." The former Nebular Navi shook his head, "But not good enough, Bass wasn't even scratched."

ProtoMan's teeth locked as he noticed that StarMan was correct, the Black Shadow wasn't even slowing down from the assault.

"Now then, let's finish them off right now!" KaraokeMan 'blinked' over to stand beside his ally. "With both our power!"

"As you wish." Bass nodded his agreement.

"Sound Blast!"

"Bass Cannon!"

The blue electrical Navi screamed into his microphone, causing his built in sound system to unleash wave after wave of devastating sound energy.

The Black Shadow's cannons went to work filling the sky with his firepower.

Roll, ProtoMan, and StarMan tensed as the flood of attacks rushed closer to them. It was not going to be easy to escape from this one…

"Battle Chip in, and Download!"

"What?" Maylu jerked slightly as she realized that neither she nor Chaud had called out that last attack. Someone else entirely had just entered this battle.

"Black Hole!"

Before Roll's eyes, a black rip of distorted space appeared in the air a short distance before them. Because of the placement of the newly created abyss, all of the Nebular Navi's attacks were cancelled as they fell prey to the Black Hole's gravitational pull. The Sound Blasts and Bass Cannon Shots were scooped up by the Hole, which vanished as soon as its work was done.

"Wait a minute…" Snapping her head around, Roll saw the final member of their group standing a short distance away. "MegaMan!"

"Took you long enough." Chaud watched as a link opened on his P.E.T. screen, showing the connection between his Terminal and Lan's.

"Now you know how I feel." Lan replied via the connection, "Actually, I can understand why you always show up late, it's kind of classy."

"Well, well, it looks like everyone's finally here." KaraokeMan nodded in satisfaction as he spotted the new arrival. "Now, Sozoji, may we get this party started?"

"Now that the audience is here, of course!" The lounge singer chortled, "This is one performance that is going to be absolutely lethal!"

"Just try it!" MegaMan's Buster burst into existence; "I think its time for a little payback for the entire Dark Soul mess you put me through."

"Who said that we were targeting you?" KaraokeMan smirked in response. "We've been working on my Feedback ability, I think your Net Op's really going to enjoy the new features we've built into it."

"You sick coward!" Roll snapped, her Buster powering up to its highest level. "I won't let you endanger Maylu any more!"

"Do you really think that you can stop me?" The singing Navi shot back. "Any attack you launch at me, Bass will deflect. Face it, you can't win!"

"I won't let you do this!" The pink Navi's bow arm snapped up. The arrow ripped out of the weapon and sped through the air towards her opponent.

"Bass?"

The Black Shadow materialized before KaraokeMan, and effortlessly flipped it aside.

"Now then…" Preparing to unleash his ultimate attack, KaraokeMan hefted his mike…

"Star Arrow!"

A studded object rammed into KaraokeMan's back, canceling his attack and sending the singing Navi plunging to the floor.

"Humph, don't forget about me." StarMan drifted to the ground behind the other Nebular Navi, his bow was in the process of dissipating.

"Roll…"

The pink Navi turned to see MegaMan standing beside her, his right hand was open and extended towards her.

"This is you're fight, you can't allow KaraokeMan to endanger Maylu anymore." The Bomber continued to hold out his hand.

Roll's eyes widened as she realized just what MegaMan was offering her. "Mega, I can't."

"I have yours, now its time for you to have mine." The Blue Navi replied, "We'll take him down, together."

The pink Navi stared at her companion for several seconds, and then took his hand. "Let's do this."

"SOUL UNISON!"

"I don't believe it…" Lan spoke over his com-link as he deciphered the information pouring across his screen. "This is Roll's first Fusion Unison!"

"Say what?"

"Fusion Unison." The brunette clarified his statement; "There are two kinds of Soul Unisons, Fusion Unisons and Copy Unisons. In Copy Unison, uh, Roll mimics the appearance and abilities of another Net Navi. In Fusion Unison, the two Navi literally merge into a new Navi the first time the Unison occurs. Fusion Unisons are more powerful than Copy Unisons, but require a greater level of friendship to pull off."

As the last of the transformations finished, Roll Mega Unison's green eyes slid open.

Her boots had taken on the shape of MegaMan's, but had maintained the yellow trim at the thickest part of the taper. Her bodysuit was a dark azure color and a light blue vest with yellow markings was wrapped about her chest. Two yellow shoulder pads slid out of the vest, and her gloves had transformed to match her boots. MegaMan's blue power pack materialized on her back. Finally, her Data Ribbons were missing, replaced by two yellow lines running over the top of her headgear.

"Whoa…" StarMan gaped at the Soul Unison, "I've gotta get one of those…"

"Hang back, ProtoMan." Chaud instructed his Navi. "This is Roll's fight."

"If you say so." The Raider agreed.

KaraokeMan fought back the rising sense of dread flooding his system. He'd seen first hand the power of MegaMan's Proto Soul, so he had no doubt that a Roll Mega Soul wouldn't be any less deadly.

"You're still too late!" The singing Navi sputtered, "With Bass standing between you and me, you'll never stop me from launching the most devastating Feedback your Op's ever seen!"

Roll remained mute, but stretched out her hand; a Mega Buster, bearing a strange resemblance to the Cross-Fusion Mega Buster, locked about her wrist. With determination, she lifted it to shoulder height and leveled it on KaraokeMan. "We'll just see about that."

"And Feed-" The Nebular Navi lifted his mike.

"Mega Buster!" A purple blast of plasma power ripped away from the Unisoned Navi's gun barrel. Her shot exploded through the air and headed on towards KaroakeMan.

Without a word, Bass slid into position to block the shot.

He might as well have tried to stop a freight train on steroids.

The Mega Buster's shot exploded into Bass, detonating on contact. Amazingly, the force of the attack was great enough to send the Black Shadow flying backward, straight into the powering-up KaraokeMan.

With a scream of dismay, the singing Navi was sent slamming to the ground as Bass crashed against him. And as if that weren't enough, Bass crashed into the Nebular Navi, pinning him to the floor beneath the Black Shadow's frame.

"Will you get off?" KaraokeMan squirmed from his buried position; he could feel his humiliation turning into anger...

A slight growl escaped from Bass, as he rolled off of his commander.

"Now, wipe that Navi off the face of the Network!" The Nebular Navi shrieked.

"With pleasure." Bass leapt up into the air, summoning two more Air Bursts in his open palms.

"Don't worry about this one, Maylu." Roll's called back to her Op, as she did so, her eyes slid closed in concentration. "I've got it covered."

"Air Bursts!" The Black Shadow sent his electrical orbs plummeting down on Roll.

"Soul Unison: Ring Soul!" The Unisoned Navi's eyes snapped open, as a burst of light surrendered her frame. After a second, the light faded away to reveal an unchanged Roll Mega Unison, except now the shadowy form of Ring had superimposed itself over Roll's body.

Acting as one, Roll Mega Unison and Shadow Ring lifted their right hands and pointed it at the approaching Air Bursts. "Ring Zap Ring!"

Two Zap rings materialized in Roll's palm, and shot upward into Bass' Air Bursts, where they exploded on contact…

Taking the electrical orbs with them.

"I don't believe this!" Chaud stared into his P.E.T. "Mega Soul must give Roll the power to use any of her Soul Unisons at will!"

Bass crashed to the ground, his Buster forming. Instantly he had his weapon hefted, pointed at Roll, and firing.

Shadow Ring vanished as Roll watched the Buster Shots rush her. Again she closed her eyes…

"Soul Unison: Turbo Soul!"

A shadowy TurboMan appeared around Roll's frame. Together they summoned a pair of Flaming Tires and sent the wheels screaming across the Network. Roll's attacks rammed into Bass' Buster shot. Both attacks shattered as they collided in mid-air.

"GGRRAA!"

Enraged, Bass launched himself forward; flying across the ground towards this new pest that was destroying all of his attacks.

"I get the feeling that he doesn't take rejection well." Roll muttered as she watched the Black Shadow close in on her.

"Maylu, I'm sending you some Chip Data." Lan's voice came flying across the Network. "Download it off onto a Battle Chip and activate it, hurry!"

"If you say so…" The redheaded Netbattler hurriedly shoved a blank chip into her P.E.T., she didn't have to ask, there was only one thing that Lan would be sending her at this particular moment. The second that the disk was ejected from her P.E.T. Advance, Maylu was shoving it back into the disk drive. "Mega Booster, Battle Chip in, Download!"

In response to this move, two round air intake valves burst into out of the top of Roll's backpack, at the same instant that two funnels exploded out of the bottom of the power pack. With a high pitched squeal, a blast of flame erupted out of the bottom exhaust funnels.

"Mega Booster!"

Using the power of her new upgraded jetpack, Roll launched herself upward. Her pack carried her into the Network's sky, and conveniently allowed Bass to fly straight through the spot she had just vacated.

Roll twisted about as she stopped ascending, with practiced precision she leveled her Mega Buster at Bass. Once her site was set, she fired.

And missed by a mile.

Bass snaked around, causing the Buster shot to miss him completely. Instantly he was shooting upward as he followed his prey into the air.

Roll maintained her position, waiting for Bass to get close enough for her to make her move.

The Black Shadow flew closer; he was rapidly drawing in for the kill. His arm cocked back readying itself to deliver the final blow…

The Unisoned Navi slipped aside, her thrusters screaming in protest over the sudden maneuver.

Bass's arm shot forward, missing Roll by a hair's breadth. Abruptly the Black Shadow jerked backward as something round and soft bumped into his chest.

Stopping his ascent, Bass glanced down to see a round Wacko Ball sitting in front of chest. His eyes widened in fear as his realized what was happening, instantly his head snapped up to see Roll, with a Shadow WackoMan surrounding her, spinning in place getting ready to send her foot flying into the Wacko Ball.

The Wacko Ball sitting squarely in front of his chest.

"Wacko Ball Shot!"

Roll's foot lashed out, connecting solidly with her weapon.

Because of the close range Bass didn't stand a chance. The ball smashed against him, sending him flying backward and downward… straight onto KaraokeMan.

The singing Navi screamed in fury as Bass crashed into him, pinning him to the floor for the second time that day.

Roll dropped to the ground, her patience was at an end; it was time to finish this.

Growling in anger, the Black Shadow righted himself. With restrained anger he hauled back his arm, and sent it crashing into the ground before him.

Roll didn't flinch as a massive explosion of flame and energy burst out to the ground before Bass and began racing across the Network toward her.

With slow, calculated precision, she placed her cupped hands together and waited.

The explosion raced closer.

A seed of blue energy appeared in the Unisoned Navi's hands and under her watchful nurturing; the power began to grow and gain strength.

Bass' attack was within twenty feet…

A blast of light erupted from Roll's hands as she brought her attack to its full power. With determination dancing in her eyes she brought her cupped hands back and leveled her gaze at the approaching wall of flame; it was within ten feet now.

"This is it." Roll snapped her arms forward, unleashing her attack.

A blinding blast of light erupted as Roll's attack, the Shokutan, took on its true form. The energy transformed into a massive blue sphere of power that exploded away toward the advancing attack.

Effortlessly, the Unisoned Navi's attack cleaved through the Black Shadow's attack, and rushed onward towards the two Nebular Navi.

"What is that thing?" KaraokeMan's limited courage gave out, as he literally cowered behind Bass DS.

"It's known as The Shokutan…" The words fell from Bass DS's lips, just as the massive power exploded against them.

End Chapter!

Now before you all jump my case, let me explain. The Mega Booster is a move that MegaMan uses in the Magna, I'm not sure how he gets it since I'm missing Volume 2, but hey, its there. And then there's the Shokutan, anyone remember the 'the fireball', the ultimate attack from X1? Yep, that's the one! Which brings up the eternal question, how many Shokutans would it take to defeat Sigma?


	24. The Grand Finale

The Network dropped into silence.

"Ugh…"

His breath coming in ragged gasps, Bass DS collapsed to his hands and knees. His strength was spent; he didn't have anything else to give… But how? How did that pink pipsqueak master most powerful move of all, the Shokutan?

"That was some power…" KaraokeMan got to his feet, and glanced about at the damage caused by Roll's last attack. Because he had been cowering behind Bass, the singing Navi had escaped the attack mostly unscathed. "Sozoji, I'm logging out, I can't fight this kind of power!"

"NO!" The lounge singer snapped, "We're not leaving until we finish what we set out to do. Now, that Unison can't possibly last much longer; just hold out until they separate and then we'll finish this!"

KaraokeMan glanced back at Roll Mega Soul, rushing blindly forward into deletion was not something that he particularly liked to do.

"If you say so…" The electrical Navi groaned, before snapping his mike up to attack. "Feedback!"

"Soul Unison: Punk Soul."

The Nebular Navi didn't stand a ghost of a chance.

Roll exploded past KaraokeMan, a shadowy form of Punk outlining her frame. "Punk Fist!"

The singing Navi wheezed as he doubled over from the blow. It was then that he noticed one particularly devastating fact…

Roll's Punk Fist had shattered his built in sound system. A round crater had been smashed into his sub-woofer of a chest, and sparking electrical wires were trailing out of the opening. Bits of cyber-plastic littered the ground around him.

"Electro Sword, Download!"

Doing his best to shake off the blow, KaraokeMan straightened himself as a sparking blue blade materialized about his right wrist. With a half-hearted battle cry, the singing Navi launched himself forward, targeting Roll.

"Soul Unison: Draco Soul." Roll's eyes closed in concentration, as the outline of the deceased DracoMan began to build around her. As soon as the shadow Navi had formed, her emerald eyes exploded open to bear on KaraokeMan.

The electrical Navi continued to rush onward, closing in on Roll.

In perfect unison, Roll and Shadow DracoMan lifted their right open palms; focusing their combined energies on the space before them. In response, a familiar white dragon-like virus began to form. "Chibi Dragon!"

"This one's for you Draco." The Unisoned Navi thought as she pointed at the Nebular Navi.

_Take him down, Roll._

"Attack KaraokeMan now. Tiny Lightning!"

The Chibi Dragon growled in anger as it locked onto its target. With a high-pitched squeal, it opened its mouth as a white glow built up in the back of its jaws. A blast of electrical power exploded away from the Chibi Dragon's mouth, and whipped along towards the electrical Navi.

KaraokeMan's television eyes widened in fear, as he raised his sword in a desperate attempt to deflect the attack.

He didn't succeed.

As the Tiny Lightning exploded past him, KaraokeMan exploded into a burst of pixilated data. His days of causing mayhem were over.

For a long moment, all was still, as everyone released the stress from their battle. Then, a burst of light exploded about Roll as she and MegaMan separated out of their fusion.

"And that just leaves one small problem." MegaMan glanced about the Blaze Medical Network. "What do we do with our defeated Bass DS?"

"Whatever we do," Roll threw her two cents in. "We'd better do it soon… I have to tell you, I'm beat. That fight took a lot out of me."

The quartet of Navi, ProtoMan, MegaMan, StarMan, and Roll were startled as a sickeningly familiar voice entered their conversation.

"Exactly as I had hoped."

Before anyone could react, Roll found herself slamming into the ground. As her head crashed into the unyielding floor, her consciousness exploded into stunned senselessness…

"BASS!" MegaMan's fists locked themselves into fists as he charged across the Network towards the Black Shadow.

"Stay back." The Bugged Navi snapped, as he formed his massive Buster. Without another word, the Black Shadow made his threat clear by leveled his cannon at Roll, who was currently trapped beneath him.

The Blue Bomber stopped short, stunned by the strange turn of events. He still wasn't sure what had happened, but out of nowhere Bass, who was no longer in his Dark Soul state, had come flying in and knocked Roll to the floor. Without a second's hesitation, the Black Shadow had pinned the pink Navi to the floor beneath his large frame.

It was then that the realization hit ProtoMan like a ton of bricks. Bass had never fully gone Dark Soul. The Black Shadow had merely pretended to mistakenly absorb MegaMan's Dark Soul just to get them to fight him, but now that they were exhausted from the previous battles, they were in no condition to take him on.

In short, Bass had pretended to be DS just to wear them out so that he could steal their individual Ultimate Programs.

"Hey you!" StarMan's cheerful demeanor turned sour as he formed his Star Bow. "You let her go!"

"I don't take orders from you." Bass snapped back, his Buster still leveled at Roll's head.

By now, the pink Navi's senses had cleared enough to realize that she was in deep trouble. Bass wouldn't hesitate to destroy her after he had what he wanted, and the others wouldn't attack Bass for fear of her getting hurt. Things did not look that good at this moment.

Unless…

Silently begging Maylu to read her mind, the pink wonder slowly began working her right hand up…

"Now then…" The Black Shadow turned his attention back to his trapped prey. With an eerie silence, Bass lifted his free hand, and keeping his Buster trained on her, he placed it over Roll's crest.

The pink Navi couldn't help herself, she screamed in agony as Bass went to work. It felt like he was ripping her apart in an effort to find the Ultimate Program…

StarMan began to bolt forward; he couldn't let this happen!

But he was stopped as ProtoMan tackled him from behind, sending both of them crashing to the ground.

"Let me go! We've got to do something!"

"Forget it!" The Raider snapped back, "Anything we do will get her deleted!"

A split second later, Bass released Roll's crest. A satisfied smirk traced his lips as he felt the new power flood his system, he had done it. Roll's Ultimate Program was now his!

"Roll!" Maylu's voice broke through the air. "Roll! Answer me!"

The pink Navi strained with all her might to make a reply, "I'm… fine… Maylu…"

"Roll, quick, Log Out!"

"Hang on…" Roll disagreed, her voice barely above a whisper. "We've got to finish this first…"

"But-"

"Maylu! Do it!" Straining what was left of her strength; the Pink Navi snapped her right arm up and pointed it at Bass, who was still towering over her. Using her left hand to steady herself as she lay on the floor, Roll set her sites on Bass and waited.

"You got it, this guy's history!" The redheaded Netbattler slid five chips into her P.E.T. "Arrow Chips in, Quintuple Download! Program Advance: Activated!"

A satisfied smile appeared on the pink Navi's face, as a look of horror appeared on the Black Shadow's. At such close quarters, there was no way that he could dodge this.

"My, how persistent you are, Bass." Roll steadied her bow arm with her left hand. "Omega Arrow: GO!"

With a scream of annoyance, Bass was forced log out of the Network as the energy of the Program Advance washed over him.

101010101010101010101010101010

"My apologies, Sozoji." KaraokeMan gasped as he materialized inside of his P.E.T.

"I don't believe it!" Sozoji ranted at his Net Navi. "They beat us, they beat BurnerMan, they even beat Bass DS! What's it take to stop them?"

KaraokeMan remained silent, he knew from past experience that it wasn't a good idea to interrupt his Op when the guy was upset. So he remained mute, watching Sozoji rave over their newly handed defeat.

"No matter what we throw at them, they always bounce back!" The Elvis-imitator barked on. "It's like we're cursed or something!"

The Navi didn't reply; a small 'beep' from the P.E.T. had seized his attention. And that sound meant that E-mail had arrived, ordinarily, that wasn't a problem, but the fact that this E-mail was from none other than Yuri wasn't a good sign…

"Uh, Sozoji? You've got mail… from Yuri."

That got his Op's attention, instantly the Nebula agent's face went white. "What- what's it say?"

"Uh, short version or long version?"

"Long."

"She says…" KaraokeMan scanned the message. "'Here's a ticket to DarkLand, it's advised that you disappear for a few months. And if you ever show your face to Nebula again; you'll disappear, permanently.'"

10101010101010101010101010101010

"Quite a fight in there, huh?" Lan called out to Maylu as she exited the building.

"It was." Maylu homed in on the brunette's position, and turned to face him. "But I'm glad that Roll's safe. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her. But enough of that, why did you want to meet me?"

"Maylu, I need to talk to you." The Net Saver replied, his voice showing a level of seriousness that was rarely heard from him. "And I need to talk more seriously than we ever have."

"What- what's wrong?"

Lan took a deep breath to steady his nerves; this was not something he was good at. Nevertheless, it had to be said.

"Maylu, I've learned a lot about myself from this whole mess." The brunette whispered. "And I learned some things about you and Chaud too."

"Lan, you-"

"Hold on, let me finish." The brunette cut her off, "I've been thinking about this… After I finish school, I've always dreamed about taking off and doing research around the world like Dad did. And I've always thought that we… might get together. But now I know that that can't happen."

Maylu gasped quietly, she'd never dreamed that Lan felt like this.

"You need someone who's going to be there on a constant basis." Lan continued, "And even though I'm willing to give up the world travel business, I don't think that I could provide for you like Chaud could."

"Wait, don't rush into this, we've still got-"

"Please, I've got to finish, the truth of the matter is, that Chaud's the more mature of the two of us. I realized that after I got upset with you on the Blaze Jet instead of hearing you out. And since I know that there's something between you two, I'm willing to bow out of the picture."

Maylu couldn't believe her ears, Lan knew?

"How did you know?"

"I'm not as dense as I let on." The brunette replied, solemn resolve filling his voice. "I've seen this coming for a while; I just chose to ignore it…"

"But Lan, I can't just let you do this." The sightless girl tried to explain her tangled web of emotions. She liked Chaud, true. But she also enjoyed Lan's company…

The Net Saver sighed silently, why did this have to be so difficult?

"Maylu, trust me on this, I think its best for you." Lan took a step back as he prepared to make his escape. "That's all I want, so please, let's part on good terms, and not with any hard feelings."

"Now hold on there!"

"Chaud?" Maylu turned slightly as the double-haired kid joined the conversation.

"Hey, Chaud." Lan greeted his friend, "Come to make sure that I leave?"

The Official sighed to himself, before making his reply. "Actually, I'm here to keep you from making a mistake. Maylu, I like you true, but I never meant to come between you and Lan. There's something between you that… to be blunt, I'm a little jealous of."

"Guys, let's not drag this out any longer." The brunette put his foot down; in his mind, the conversation was closed. "It's already settled, Chaud, you'd better take care of her, because I know where you live."

"No wait just a moment!" Maylu snapped, "Don't I have a say in this? Or am I just supposed to accept whatever terms you two come up with?"

Silence followed, evidently the two had been stunned into submission over her last remark.

Trying to calm her nerves, the redhead took a deep breath. Then, confident that she had a handle on her emotions, she continued her explanation.

"I think we're rushing this." She gave her view to the two boys. "I like you both, a lot, but I don't think any of us are ready to make this kind of decision. I mean, let's face it, we're still young. We've still got years ahead of us that need living before we actually find out who we are, and I know that trying to decide this right now would be a mistake."

The two Net Savers remained silent for a long moment, pondering her point. Although they tried to wiggle around it, both were eventually forced to concede her point. They were too young to try and decide an issue of this magnitude.

Breaking the silence, Chaud asked the obvious question. "So what do you propose?"

"I think we need to be who we are." Maylu outlined her idea. "And just be friends all around right now. There's no point in trying to be boyfriend/girlfriend, so for the moment, we'll just be us, a group of friends who are always there for each other."

Another moment of silence followed, this time Lan was the one to break it.

"Sounds good to me."

"Likewise." Chaud accented, "I agree."

A familiar feeling of happiness flooded through Maylu. She still had both of her friends, Roll was always by her side; and before too much longer Blaze Medical would give her sight back. There was no doubt about it, the future looked promising. Very promising.

In fact, it was shaping up to be a bright dawn for everyone.

END CHAPTER.

Well, that's a wrap! I have to admit, that I had a lot of fun writing this as I went along (Not that I want to make this a regular event) and I hope that you all enjoyed it.


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